Tag: #Contemporary

Posted in #BookTours

A SEAL for the Weekend

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

One weekend. No names. No promises… 


A SEAL For the Weekend

Jake’s Heroes, Prequel to Book 4

by Sadie King

Genre: Steamy Contemporary Military Romance



Read for FREE for a Limited Time!

 

I want one reckless night to forget my pain.

He wants one night to feel something real.

When I walk into a soldier’s bar on the eve of my mother’s funeral, I’m not looking for love—just escape.

Then I see him.

A battle-weary SEAL with dark eyes and a quiet strength who offers exactly what I need.

No names. No promises. Just one wild, beautiful weekend that burns bright enough to sear itself into my soul.

But one impulsive night changes everything. And neither of us realize our story is just beginning.

 

“Ryan and Paige have so much chemistry that my kindle almost melted.”

 

“Steamy, Hot Prequel that leaves your wanting more.”

 

 

**Get it FREE! **

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I look up to the owner of the gruff voice and see it’s the man who was sitting on the other side of the bar. In the light, I can see his features properly, and I like what I see. He’s got at least a decade on the boy who spilled my drink. Dark hair I want to run my hands through skims the top of his ears, and unlike the other men in the bar, he’s got thick stubble coating his chin.

Drawing my attention away from the newcomer, Drunk Asshole stands up straight and faces him, eyeing him for a beat before retreating. But Mystery Man grabs his arm before he can leave.

“Apologize to the lady.”

The drunk guy huffs and is about to say something but clearly thinks better of it. All the fight goes out of him. Instead, in my direction, he mumbles, “Sorry.”

“You’re a soldier,” the man admonishes him. “Act like one.”

Once he releases his hold, the man staggers back to his friends, and I look up to my savior and find dark eyes staring down at me.

“Sorry you had to go through that. It gets wild in here.”

“You don’t need to apologize for him.”

He signals over the bartender, who wipes up the spilled beer with a cloth. “That asshole should’ve bought you a drink to replace the one he spilled.” He catches the eye of the bartender and asks me, “You want another beer to replace the one you spilled? Or do you want to leave? I can walk you to your car if you feel unsafe.”

I run my gaze over him. He’s tall and solid, with broad shoulders. His blue t-shirt sits snug over muscular arms, and tattoos snake over his tanned skin. He doesn’t look like a typical military guy.

The shaggy haircut and facial hair are only allowed in some of the elite troop units. If he’s military, then he’s special forces like my brother, Hudson, which is why I know not to ask.

“Why would I be any safer with you?”

He nods once. “Good point. You can go out to your own car, and our man here”—he indicates the bartender—“can watch you on the security cameras to make sure you get to your car safely.”

He’s giving me a way out, and I know I should take it. I can almost hear my mom scolding me to leave. But I feel safe with him, and if I’m going to accomplish my goal, he’s the one I want to do it with.

I nod to the bartender. “I’ll take another beer, please.” The man pulls out his wallet, but I shake my head. “And I’ll pay for it.”

His gaze meets mine, and he nods again, slipping his wallet away. He understands why I don’t want a man to buy me a drink. I don’t want to feel an obligation, even though that’s what I came for.

“And one for my friend,” I add.

Mystery Man raises his eyebrows at me.

“For saving me.” I give him my first genuine smile of the night.






Sadie King is a USA Today Best Selling Author of over 120 short and steamy romance books and novellas. She loves to write about military heroes and the sassy curvy women who steal their hearts.

Sadie lives in New Zealand with her ex-military husband and raucous young son.

When she’s not writing she loves catching waves with her son, hanging out at the beach, and drinking good wine, preferably with a book in hand.

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * TikTok * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 


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Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Turkey Trots and Target Shots

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

It’s Thanksgiving in Honey Hollow and things are about to go from delicious to deadly.

The turkeys aren’t the only things on the run in Honey Hollow—so is a killer. Effie finds herself at the heart of another homicide, and despite the fact her own hit list is growing, she’s determined to find the killer. And then there’s that whole Cooper Knox debacle. Here’s hoping she doesn’t have to solve that with a bullet, too.

Love small towns, close-knit friendships, and humor with a side of homicide? You will LOVE the Pain in the Assassin series! Hilarious from start to finish!

An assassin who works for the mob. One hot detective. And a killer. Living in Honey Hollow can be murder.

Cosmopolitan Magazine calls Addison’s books, “…easy, frothy fun!”
Humor with a side of homicide.

A laugh out loud cozy mystery by New York Times, USA TODAY, & Wall Street Journal bestseller Addison Moore

***A MURDER IN THE MIX SPINOFF!*** Includes RECIPE!

My name is Eufrasia Canelli, but everybody calls meEffie. I come from a big Italian family with big hearts, big appetites, and an even bigger bankroll that’s cleverly hidden from the IRS.

I’m not married to the mob, I was born into it.Just last year, I was laid off from my career at a tech company, and in an effort to keep from moving back home, I went crawling to the biggest crime lord I know—my Uncle Jimmy.

He gave me two options: dance at his strip club or hunt down his enemies.

Seeing that I’m no fan of public nudity, I opted for murder.

Let’s just say my mortality rate so far is nil.

Okay, so I’m not a straight shot, but my Uncle Jimmy doesn’t seem to mind and I’m still raking in enough money to keep a roof over my head.

I also took a part-time job at a local bakery. Not only do I get to satisfy my sweet tooth for free, but I get a decent cover when I’m asked about my employment.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Honey Hollow is rolling out the feathered carpet as all of Main Street hosts theGobble and Grab Turkey Trot where shops are handing out samples and having sales right up until the big day. In fact, the bakery is hosting a pumpkin pie-eating contest to kick off the festivities. And let’s not forget the huge book signing taking place on night one, featuring Harmony Honeycutt’s new book on how to manifest your dreams.

So when my next hit ends up face down in a pie I served up, I’m not only shocked—I’m also a little curious as to who beat me to the killer punch. And wouldn’t you know it? That dead guy just so happens to be Harmony Honeycutt’s ex. It makes me wonder if she’s just manifested herself a murder.

Harmony might be at the top of my suspect list, but I’m at the top of Cooper’s.

Now I’ve got to find the killer before I end up behind bars for committing a homicide I had nothing to do with.

I guess it’s true what they say—living in Honey Hollow can be murder.

Posted in #BookTours

Fabulously Flawed

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Fabulously Flawed
Lynne Hancock Pearson
Publication date: November 15th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Small town. Big dreams. One renovation that changes everything.

After three years of climbing the corporate ladder, Carl can practically taste the corner office with his name on the door. However, caring for his injured grandmother takes precedence, forcing his return to Keeney. But not to stay. Career-wise, the small town is a dead end, and others have their eye on that corner office.

Trading boardroom strategy for work boots and hard hats, Carl rejoins Keeney Building Supply to work as a general contractor—temporarily. He’s made that clear to everyone, including Sylvie.

Years ago, they parted ways before their mutual attraction could ignite, and Sylvie moved on, partnering with a charming developer who shared her excitement for flipping houses. However, charm can be deceiving—the developer wanted only her money, not her heart, leaving her plans in ruins.

Carl steps in, offering friendship, ice cream, and a new opportunity for her own home renovation business. Sylvie’s spark returns, and their attraction kindles, but Carl keeps his distance.

With his grandmother well on her way to recovery, there’s nothing to keep him in the small town. His future is waiting, and it’s not in Keeney.

Or is it?

A workplace romance, Fabulously Flawed is a story of the messy beauty of falling for someone who challenges everything you thought you wanted: a would-be house flipper who clashes and connects with the driven project manager determined to escape the confines of small-town life.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

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EXCERPT:

Hoping Carl would indeed wind up at her place, Sylvie had spent the morning in a cleaning frenzy, and her kitchen shone. There were fresh, fluffy towels in the sparkling bathroom, vacuum tracks on the carpet, and most importantly, clean sheets on the bed. Afterward, she’d collapsed on the couch.

But then she didn’t like the placement of the living room furniture, so she’d arranged and rearranged it to look cozier, and placed candles artfully around the room. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Images of Carl naked and hovering over her had haunted her dreams. She had no doubt the reality would be even better.

Part of her dream came true about twenty minutes later.

Having told Carl to get comfortable, she’d gone into the kitchen to assemble a late-night snack. From the fridge, she pulled the cheeseboard she’d assembled that morning and the wine. And not her usual box of Okanagan Porchbanger. For this momentous night—at least she hoped it would be—she’d splurged on a higher-end bottle. On a waiting tray, she arranged the cheeseboard, plates, napkins, and two glasses of wine.

Carl sat on the couch, one arm draped along the back of the cushions. She’d been right about the candles because the soft light made his dark eyes shine. Transfixed by the invitation in his smile, she walked into the living room and promptly tripped.

Moving quickly, Carl leaped from the couch to catch the falling glasses, but not before the contents splashed across his face, to drip down his chest. Cheese, crackers, cornichons, and cured meats were scattered across the coffee table that Sylvie had relocated earlier that day. Holding the two glasses, Carl blinked drops of wine from his lashes.

Sylvie’s mouth hung open as she stared at him in dismay. “Oh my God! I am so, so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” he said, smacking his lips. “I like a good rosé.” He set the glasses on the tray and took it from Sylvie’s hands. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

Pain radiated from where her knee had connected with the stupid coffee table. It wasn’t bleeding, but she’d have a lovely bruise tomorrow. “No,” she replied, bending her knee experimentally. “I’m fine, but your shirt isn’t.” Soaked through in spots, the fabric was rapidly turning pink.

He took the tray into the kitchen and returned, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it from the waistband of his trousers. “It’ll wash. But do you have a towel? I’d like to clean up a bit.”

After guiding him to the bathroom and handing him a towel, Sylvie went to clean up the mess. The good news was that nothing had broken, and only Carl had gotten wet. The bad news was…she sucked at seduction. He probably had an Uber on the way, ready to make his escape. She scooped the remains of her carefully planned evening off the coffee table and got down on her knees to retrieve tiny pickles from under the couch.

She turned to look when Carl returned, and her mouth hung open again. Hands shoved into his trouser pockets, and shirtless, he was a sight to behold. A smattering of hair covered his pectoral muscles and arrowed down his taut belly. The slopes and dips that defined the muscles of his arms and chest called to her, and she rose from the floor, knowing she was staring and not caring a bit.

Author Bio:

Lynne Hancock Pearson writes fun, flirty, feel-good fiction that simmers at low heat. Set in the Pacific Northwest, they are stories of people finding their way, even if it takes a while to get there.

She lives near Seattle with two and a half finicky felines and one long-suffering husband. She is a left-handed middle child who grew up in the Great White North and is a proud member of the Métis Nation of Canada.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Posted in #BookTours

That Boy

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

That Boy
Briar Black
(The Cheshire Set, #3)
Publication date: November 6th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Suspense

Building an impossible tea farm in the Cheshire countryside was Sofia’s second chance. A way to prove herself. A fresh start. She knew it would be graft. She anticipated a degree of isolation. But with Christmas imminent and the farm failing, her thoughts have grown darker. She’s searching for something — an ineffable force to make this year the magical wonderland she always craves and never finds.

Yet with the farm failing there’s no time to fix her ailing social life. Sofia resigns herself to another lonely holiday.

Enter Matt.

Delaware Grange’s twenty-one-year-old assistant gamekeeper. Nice enough, a bit dopey.

As she hunkers down for winter, Sofia thinks she’s prepared for everything. Nothing could prepare her for Matt. For the abrupt awareness of him. For the way he’s far more capable than he seems. Thoughtful. Considerate. Quietly intelligent.

Way sexier than he appears.

Suddenly impossible to ignore.

But Matt isn’t what he seems. A darkness runs beneath Delaware Grange — insidious, creeping, buried deep.

Sofia was little more than a challenge, a box for Matt to check, an assignment to complete. Until he fell.

Hard.

Now all he sees is her. All he wants is her. And all he knows is she has no idea who he truly is. While Sofia fights her feelings in the face of forbidden fruit, and Matt wrestles with the reality of his true purpose on the estate, the pair fall into an intoxicating, passionate, volatile romance.

As winter deepens and Christmas closes in, two lonely souls struggle to find peace in each other, and trust becomes the most dangerous choice on the estate.

Falling for Matt threatens everything Sofia has worked so hard to build. Falling for Sofia might just be the making of Matt.

That Boy is a high-heat, secret-identity romance where desire, deception, and devotion collide in a snowy small-town Christmas.

While not required, it is highly suggested to read Nightshade before That Boy.

Author’s Note: Each novel in The Cheshire Set can be read as a standalone, but the following order avoids spoiling the reading experience of earlier books.

Recommended Reading Order for The Cheshire Set:

  1. Bane
  2. Nightshade
  3. That Boy

Eve Was Framed, a prequel novella to Bane, isn’t strictly part of The Cheshire Set but is available for free download on the author’s website.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

‘Twas The Gloam Before Christmas…

A quiet, introspective moment between Matt and Sofia after a near-disaster. As they talk about “The Gloaming”—that melancholy space between Halloween and Christmas—their chemistry deepens and the novel’s central themes of loneliness, yearning, and rediscovery of light emerge.

“What’s the Gloaming?”

“Oh. Right.” I shifted, trying to find a way to lean that didn’t hurt my shoulder. It was useless. Until someone could pop it back in, I was doomed to dull agony. “It’s that feeling that threatens to drown you…” I paused, swallowing hard and staring out the window.

The world nearly drowned me tonight.

“This time every year.” I finally managed. “You know?”

Keep talking. Stay conscious. Don’t toss your cookies into his lap.

“That…overwhelming urge to…cover everything in cheer. But…” I took a little more water. “…the more you try, the less cheerful you feel. So you just keep…adding more.”

He chuckled.

“Hoping the cheer finds you before you’re…” Another tiny sip of water. “…crushed by baubles and fake fir garlands.”

He stared at me.

Great. Now he thinks I’m a total weirdo.

“I get it.” A slow smile spread across his face. “You’re staring at all the decorations. Watching the snow fall. And somewhere inside you’re sure you love Christmas. But you never quite seem to feel it.”

“Yes!” I sat up, and momentarily thought I’d blackout from the effort.

He eased me back into the sofa.

“Nailed it.” I swallowed. Talking was so much effort. Thinking was weirdly worse. “It’s a coping mechanism, I guess.”

He nodded, but when I didn’t continue, he made a winding motion with his hands.

“Every year this…fog descends. When Halloween’s over. This looming sense of…dread.”

“And it’s right when everyone else is getting excited.”

I nodded. “Exactly. Not me.” The wind howled savagely by, rattling the window and making us both jump. I turned my face away from the glass, not wanting to think about the carnage outside. “I’m sat there like a…miserly Scrooge.”

“Scrooge was never that pretty.”

I shook my head. “Don’t flirt with me.”

“Keep talking then.”

I didn’t want to. I just wanted to sleep.

My eyes drifted, and he nudged my knee with his. “Sof?”

With gargantuan effort, I rallied. “Welcome to Gloamas!” I wheezed. “Not quite Christmas. Not quite apathy. Some…twisted netherworld.”

He permitted me another tiny sip of water for my effort.

I swallowed it and continued, “You’re stuck for weeks. Longing to be…joyful and merry. But…that ineffable light is…absent.”

Matt pursed his lips. “So…it’s not gloomy, it’s gloamy. You’re in the twilight. Daylight’s gone. You know it will be back at some point, but in the interim, you’re left with a hollow echo—”

“How you…loved Christmas…as a kid,” I managed. “Desperately wish to…feel it all.”

He grinned. “But for now, the light’s faded. Until the sun rises, you’re left wisting after a feeling.”

I stared at him. “And someone to share it with.”

Matty shifted a little closer. He was still soaking wet from the rain. Must have been freezing. Yet he hadn’t complained. Hadn’t even seemed to notice. I leant into him and shivered. More at the thought of how cold he must be than anything else. But he stripped off my blankets (now soaked) and wrapped me in two new dry ones.

The phone rang, and he shot up to grab it.

“She’s okay, I think. Conscious, talking, the bleeding’s stopped. Her shoulder’s bad, but—”

A pause as whoever was on the other end of the line spoke.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” He peered out of the window. “The rain’s still coming down hard.”

Another pause.

“Okay. We’ll be here.”

He hung up. “Sounds like the storm’s passing. It’s lightening up at the house, and the rain’s almost stopped down there. They’re on their way up. By the time they get here, it should have cleared.”

“The track will be murder.” I tried to sit up.

He moved and blocked me, forcing me to stay still. “Easy.”

“Give me the phone.”

“They’ve already left, Sof.”

I struggled some more.

“Stop!”

Calm. But firm. Commanding.

I’ve never heard him speak like that before.

“Stop.”

Softer. Eyes searching mine.

My heart fluttered.

“We’d all gladly risk a bit of fucking mud to get you safe. You must know that?”

My breath caught. My chest constricted painfully. His jaw was locked. The look in his eyes was…feral.

And so fucking hot.

There’s really something wrong with me.

Satisfied I wasn’t about to bolt for the door, he sat back down. Glanced around.

“Is that why all your decorations are so…weirdly depressing?”

“They’re not.” I sniffed.

“They really are, Sof. Like…they’re full of the festive spirit but don’t quite hit the mark.”

He glanced at my forlorn little tree. Which, in fairness, was at least standing vertically now. I’d come in one day to find him scrambling around on the floor, fiddling with the screws on the base to get it standing straight.

He was right. The baubles were desolate.

I loved them.

“I like them.” Matt wrapped the blankets tighter around me. “They’re comfortingly depressing. How Christmas should be. It always just…kind of reminds you of all you’re missing in life.”

Author Bio:

Briar has been a professional copywriter for many years (far more than she cares to admit). She began her career working for large companies and agencies before realising she could do it all for herself. Now, she happily writes for businesses and entrepreneurs she’s passionate about and dreams of the day her fiction becomes popular enough for her to retreat into fictional worlds full-time. Growing up in Cheshire and falling in love with its countryside, small towns, and villages, she’s enjoyed creating a fictional world that reflects her own.

Website / Goodreads / TikTok / Instagram


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Posted in #BookTours

A Wyoming Family Holiday

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

A Wyoming Family Holiday: A Clean and Uplifting Romance
Virginia McCullough
(Back to Adelaide Creek, #5)
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming
Publication date: October 28th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Can saving a town landmark…

Restore her faith in love?

When attorney Sloan Lancaster returns to Adelaide Creek to care for his father, he’s shocked at Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center’s run-down state. He considers moving his dad but is drawn to his high school crush Bethany, in charge of the facility’s restoration. Moved by Bethany’s community spirit and her adorable young daughter, Heidi, Sloan makes an anonymous donation to the center as the holidays bring them all closer. But when Sloan’s identity is revealed, Bethany pulls away, anxious about conflict of interest. Can she overcome her fears to embrace Sloan’s support—and build the loving family she’s always wanted?

From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.

Back to Adelaide Creek

Book 1: The Rancher’s Wyoming Twins
Book 2: The Doc’s Holiday Homecoming
Book 3: His Wyoming Surprise
Book 4: Finding His Wyoming Sweetheart
Book 5: A Wyoming Family Holiday

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple Books / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Sloan Lancaster raised the hood of his jacket and raced through the downpour, skirting the water overflowing dips and deep potholes in the asphalt parking lot. This, plus the rundown brick and wood exterior, was all he needed to conclude that the Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center was past its prime. Especially dreary was the aging paint job, once white, but now a dull, dirty gray. Sloan summed up his first impression of this facility in one word: neglected.

As he ducked into the hands-free revolving door a commotion in the lobby caught his attention. Women and men in scrubs or lab coats were pushing and pulling furniture across the carpeted floor, while a couple of burly guys in maintenance uniforms dragged an oversized tarp into the far corner of the room where rainwater ran down the wall.

Two women a few feet in front of him struggled to pull a couch across the middle of the lobby. He approached from behind and called out, “Wait, let me help with that. Tell me where you want it.”

A woman spun around. “Thanks. We can use the help.” Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Sloan?”

“Bethany?” He struggled to find his next words as he grasped the wooden armrest on one end. “I’d know you anywhere.” It was true. He hadn’t seen her since high school and she’d barely changed at all.

Not the time to ask a lot of questions. He made his early morning workouts pay off as he dragged the couch to the only empty spot on the other side of the lobby big enough to accommodate it. The space was already filled with a hodgepodge of tables and armchairs that had escaped the leaking roof and ceilings.

Bethany pushed the couch from the other end. Her expression turned serious as she straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “You’re here to see your dad, I assume. Medical transport brought him here a couple of hours ago.”

Her burgundy pantsuit and crisp tailored white shirt gave her a professional look in the style of the women lawyers at his firm. That led Sloan to guess that his old friend Bethany Hoover was an administrator in this place, where, for better or worse, his dad was now a patient. The worn out exterior and general disarray in the lobby weren’t filling him with positive feelings about that.

The opposite, in fact.

Author Bio:

A writer all her adult life, Virginia McCullough has had the opportunity to write the stories of her heart in her novels, including Girl in the Spotlight, the first book in her Two Moon Bay series for Harlequin Heartwarming. (Book 2 is scheduled for release in January 2018). Her award-winning romance and women’s fiction titles include The Jacks of Her Heart, Amber Light, Greta’s Grace, The Chapels on the Hill, and Island Healing.

Born and raised in Chicago, Virginia has been lucky enough to develop her writing career in many locations, including the coast of Maine, the mountains of North Carolina, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and currently, Northeast Wisconsin. She started her career in nonfiction, first writing articles and then books as a ghostwriter and coauthor. She’s written more than 100 books for physicians, business owners, professional speakers and many others with information to share or a story to tell.

Virginia’s books feature characters who could be your neighbors and friends. They come in all ages and struggle with everyday life issues in small-town environments that almost always include water—oceans, lakes, or rivers. The mother of two grown children, you’ll find Virginia with her nose a book, walking on trails or her neighborhood street, or she may be packing her bag to take off for her next adventure. And she’s always working on another story about hope, healing, and second chances.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Bookbub / Newsletter


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