Cover Reveal: Chasing Down the Dream by Jaymee Jacobs

Release Date: 9/3/2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Trope: Best Friend’s Sibling Romance, Blue Collar Romance

From USA Today best-selling author Jaymee Jacobs comes a best friend’s sibling romance packed with heat, heart, and happily ever after.

When Kasey Ruggieri returns to her hometown after her fashion design business implodes, she barely recognizes the handsome guy with a smokin’ body who comes to fix the HVAC as her brother's best friend. The skinny teenager she once knew is gone, and when Asher strips off his shirt to work in the boiling heat, Kasey can't take her eyes off his glistening, muscular chest. Now she needs more than air conditioning to cool her desires.

Asher Wallace has had a crush on Kasey ever since he realized girls don’t have cooties. She’s beautiful, talented, and fun. But as his best friend’s older sister, she’s completely out of his league. Once Kasey left Oak Bend to pursue a fashion career in New York City, Asher shelved his boyhood crush and moved on from his college hockey days and into the family's heating and cooling business.

When Kasey and Asher finally connect, there’s enough heat to melt a Michigan winter. But when Kasey stumbles onto a new, profitable fashion venture, will she leave Asher behind for the bright lights of the big city once more? Or can Asher prove to Kasey that love and success can be found close to home?

Welcome to Oak Bend, where blue-collar hotties work hard and love even harder, especially when it comes to landing their happily ever after.

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About the Author

Jaymee Jacobs is a USA Today best-selling author and author of the Dallas Comets series. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in English literature and a psychology minor.

Her books have the same two themes: hockey and the "millennial" experience. The first is because she's a die-hard fan (particularly of the Pittsburgh Penguins). The second is because she felt that there weren't any books to which she could personally relate. So she began to write the stories she wanted to read. Her books spotlight those in the up-and-coming generation as they navigate this new era of ubiquitous technology, online dating etiquette, and what it means to "adult."

When she's not writing, you'll find Jaymee curating her cats' Instagram account, listening to true crime podcasts, scrolling through Pinterest for fructose-free recipes, or yelling at the TV during Penguins games.

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Cover Reveal: Nobody Does It Better by Samantha Chase

Series: Magnolia Sound #9

Release Date: October 19, 2021

About the Book

A billionaire hell bent on transforming a sleepy coastal town.

The hometown girl determined to do whatever it takes to stop him.

Peyton Bishop has big plans and big dreams when it comes to leaving her mark on Magnolia Sound. Her great-grandfather founded the coastal town and every generation before her has left their stamp. Now it’s her turn. But just as she takes the leap and makes plans to build her own restaurant, a sexy business mogul buys her dream property right from under her.

Ryder Ashford knows a good thing when he sees it, and he knows he’s found a gem with Magnolia Sound. He just needs to get the small town up to his standards first. He’s received nothing but praise from the locals so far, but that’s about to change because the bratty and beautiful café owner whose property he just snatched isn’t shy about calling him out on his plans. He should be annoyed she’s getting in his way, but he enjoys their verbal sparring too much.

Ryder’s a man who goes after what he wants, and what he wants is the best.

He never thought that would turn out to be the one woman standing between him and his dreams.

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About the Author

Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

Connect:

Website: https://www.chasing-romance.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaChaseFanClub/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthachaseromance/ 

Newsletter: https://www.chasing-romance.com/newsletter 

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/samantha-chase

Spotlight: Never Fall for Your Back-Up Guy by Kate O’Keeffe

(It’s Complicated, #1)
Publication date: August 3rd 2021
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Women’s Fiction

Synopsis:

Three things I’ve learned this week:
1) Never fall for a client
2) Never fall for your best friend
3) And most importantly, never fall for your back-up guy
…especially if they’re all the same person.

I’m the queen of dating disasters—I’ve had more rotten dates than you can shake a long stemmed rose at. After years of one disappointment after another, I’m beginning to feel like I’ll never say “I do.”

So after being dumped one too many times I do something stupid:

I make a pact with my best friend Asher. If neither of us are married by 35, we tie the knot. That’s five full years of searching for The One.

I’ve got to meet Mr. Right by then, don’t I?

Except when I take a job redecorating Asher’s bachelor pad, I realize he’s a lot different from the guy I thought he was. Against all odds, I find myself falling for my best friend. Maybe my back-up guy could be The One after all?

Except there’s only one problem…

My back-up guy has a secret that could ruin everything.

Never Fall for Your Back-Up Guy is a clean, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy with a smart and sassy British heroine and a swoon-worthy American hero.

It’s the first book in the It’s Complicated series and can easily be read as a standalone novel. It is a spin-off of the Love Manor Romantic Comedy series. Catch up with all your favorite Love Manor characters and meet some new ones in this fun, laugh-out-loud rom com!

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

About the Author

Visit kateokeeffe.com and sign up to her newsletter so you never miss out on new releases and great book deals again! Follow her on Bookbub to learn about deals on her books. Just cut and paste this link into your browser: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-o-keeffe

Kate O'Keeffe is a bestselling author of fun, feel-good romantic comedies. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke's Bay, New Zealand with her family, two scruffy dogs, and a cat who thinks he's a scruffy dog too. He's not: he's a cat. When she's not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries, and eating chocolate. A lot of it.

Visit kateokeeffe.com to sign up to her newsletter to keep up to date on new releases, great deals on books, and more.

Connect:

https://twitter.com/kateokeeffe4

http://kateokeeffe.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kateokeeffeauthor/

https://www.facebook.com/kateokeeffeauthor

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8195990.Kate_O_Keeffe

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Spotlight: Begin Again, Again by Eve Dangerfield

(Rebirth Series, #1)
Publication date: August 4th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

The chemistry’s right, the timing’s so wrong…

True love is never convenient…

What do Bethany Myers and infatuation have in common? They’re both bright, beautiful and refuse to conform.

What do Byron Thomas and denial have in common? Just about everything. But don’t worry about it.

Ex-party girl Beth moved to Melbourne for a fresh start—which was immediately derailed by the city’s COVID lockdown. After an isolated winter, summer has arrived and Beth (and her body) is crying out for connection. But the rules have changed and being vulnerable feels risky…

A pro-footballer turned electrician, Bryon has plenty of secrets and even more regrets. He’s the glue holding his dysfunctional family together and he wants things to stay simple—something Beth makes impossible.

After a roadside encounter Bryon and Beth’s worlds collide. What was supposed to be a hook up becomes a full-on summer romance. As they question their future, both together and apart, they learn you don’t come of age once but again and again.

Begin Again, Again is a return to the world of romance novels for critically acclaimed author Eve Dangerfield.

Excerpt

Beth wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t so perfect.

She was driving down a quiet rose-strewn street, Charli XCX blaring from her speakers, and there he was, striding across the footpath holding a big metal thing. Three weeks out of lockdown, Beth still wasn’t used to seeing men’s faces uncovered in public. But she’d never be ready for someone like him. He looked like he’d wandered away from a movie shoot, the drab suburbia a mere backdrop for his supernatural hotness. She slowed and he cocked his head at her. ‘Am I okay to go?’ 

He had a slash through his left eyebrow. The thin, bisecting line was a flaw that somehow made him hotter, like a gap between a supermodel’s front teeth. 

Beth waved him on. He raised two fingers in a tiny salute and walked toward the black ute on the other side of the road. Beth watched the muscles in his arms shift and lock as he carried his… work tool, or whatever it was, across the road. Charli sang about boys, needing boys, wanting boys, and Beth’s mood soared. It was a gorgeous day; lockdown was finally over and guys as hot as this still existed. Better than existed—existed near her. 

She still might not have done anything, but then she saw the butterfly. It was royal blue, huge and beautiful. It flitted past his handsome face, and it was like a cosmic promise that after all these months of loneliness, she could, would, fuck again. 

“Oh my god,” she said to no one. Without another conscious thought, she wound down the car window and stuck her head into the summer morning. “Hey! You’re fucking gorgeous!”

The guy turned—of course he turned, she’d yelled at him—and gave her a bemused look. Beth’s insides churned. His eyes were brighter than his hair suggested they’d be, hazel or even green. The butterfly shimmered across his throat, as reluctant to leave him alone as she was.

He looked at her as he hauled the big metal thing into the tray of the ute. He didn’t seem annoyed; he didn’t seem like anything. Beth knew she should move, but she couldn’t. She was stuck between shame and the strangest feeling she knew him. Or that maybe she’d been waiting for him. That she’d known to drive to this spot at this time and see this guy.

He moved toward her car and common sense kicked in. She’d catcalled a guy in the street. He might have thought she was joking. Fucking with him. Beth imagined his fist pounding the car windshield and saw him yelling that he wasn’t a woman and didn’t deserve that shit. She fumbled for the accelerator, but he was already in front of her, hand outstretched.

“Hey.”

His voice was deep but clean. Up close there was a boyish roundness to his eyes that unnerved her. He was young, younger than her. Mid-twenties maybe. Beth’s stomach roiled. “Hey, um, how’s it going?”

“Not bad.” He bent down, looking through her open window. His eyes were green, dark jade like pounamu. Her stomach swooped. Did she know him? Had they made plans to be here?

He glanced at her body, both brows lifting slightly. Lust hit Beth like a truck. She wanted him, wanted him with a clarity she hadn’t experienced since Ben Havish’s sweet sixteenth pool party.  

“How are you?” he asked. 

Beth looked into his face and saw enough interest to press wildly, recklessly ahead. “Good. Do you want to hang out?”

The guy leaned back, straightening up. “Right now?”

Beth’s brain jammed. Was he inviting her onto his worksite? To his car? She wasn’t opposed, but… “I’m on my lunch break. How about tonight?”

His gaze travelled down her body, and Beth wished she’d worn something hotter than a pink t-shirt and jeans. Like a dress and heels. Or a fur coat and lingerie. 

“Tonight works.”

Beth resisted the urge to clap her hands to her face and squeal.

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About the Author

Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels ever since she first swiped her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own stories about complicated women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Her work has been described as 'genre-defying,' 'insanely hot' and ‘the defibrillator contemporary romance needs right now'...and not just by herself or those who might need bone marrow...OTHER PEOPLE! She lives in Melbourne with her boy and a bunch of semi-dead plants. She can generally be found making a mess.

Connect:

https://www.evedangerfield.com/

https://www.facebook.com/evedangerfield/

https://www.instagram.com/evedangerfield/

https://twitter.com/Eve_Dangerfield

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14427168.Eve_Dangerfield

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Spotlight: Because You're Mine by Layla Hagen

This sexy and heart-warming romance about a sworn bachelor falling for his best friend’s sister will melt your e-reader. Happy Ever After - guaranteed!

Can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Ian Gallagher loves taking risks. It’s how he turned the business he’s built with his brother into a success. But even he can’t cross some rules. His best friend’s sister is strictly off-limits, but when Ellie moves to New York, he jumps at the chance to help her settle in.

One look at her, and he realizes that not flirting with her will be a lot harder than he thought, and not just because she’s stunning. He enjoys her laughter and merciless teasing. How can he stay away when all he wants is to get closer?

Ellie Cavanaugh is living her dream. She’s finally working in a Michelin starred restaurant in New York. Her plan is to get as much experience as possible before opening her own place. Kissing her brother’s best friend is definitely not part of the plan. Neither is opening up to him in ways she never did with anyone.

Ellie knows that Ian isn’t looking for forever though. After all, her brother warned her that Ian was a sworn bachelor. And if she’s honest with herself, Ellie isn’t ready for love either. She’s never let anyone in before. But she can’t help giving in to the growing bond between her and Ian, even if it means putting her heart on the line.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

About the Author

Welcome! My name is Layla Hagen and I am a Contemporary Romance author.

I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later. I write romantic stories and can't wait to share them with the world. And I drink coffee. Lots of it :-D

SIGN UP FOR MY MAILING LIST and find out about future books as soon as they are released! (just copy and paste this link in your browser to sign up): http://laylahagen.com/mailing-list-sign-up/

I am represented by Louise Fury (The Bent Agency)

Connect with Layla Hagen:

Newsletter: http://laylahagen.com/newsletter/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaylaHagenBooks 

Website: www.laylahagen.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laylahagen_author/ 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Layla-Hagen/e/B00IFMJ7PY 

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/layla-hagen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7520984.Layla_Hagen 

Spotlight: The Fort by Adrian Goldsworthy

AD 105: DACIA

The Dacian kingdom and Rome are at peace, but no one thinks that it will last. Sent to command an isolated fort beyond the Danube, centurion Flavius Ferox can sense that war is coming, but also knows that enemies may be closer to home.

Many of the Brigantes under his command are former rebels and convicts, as likely to kill him as obey an order. And then there is Hadrian, the emperor's cousin, and a man with plans of his own.

Excerpt

Pages 22-24

Sabinus realised that his gladius lay beside him and he snatched it up as he stood. The other Briton was clutching at his neck, swaying as he gasped for breath. Ferox had pushed Molacus down and was sitting on him, left hand clamped around the man’s sword arm and the other using his battered helmet to pound his face again and again. The auxiliary was coming, but as his fear turned to anger Sabinus went over to the gasping Briton and thrust his sword into the man’s belly. He felt the resistance of the iron rings, pressed harder, his rage growing, and felt the metal snap and the point slide in. The decurion seemed to stare straight at him, eyes desperate and imploring, so Sabinus pushed harder, using both hands to force the sword deeper, until he punched through the rear of the man’s armour and the tip erupted from the man’s back. 

‘Sir?’ The auxiliary had reached them. He was a youngster, his confusion obvious. Sabinus let go of his gladius and let the man fall. Down the slope one of the riders was stretched on the ground, unmoving, but Vindex was also down, rolling and dodging the two horsemen as they struggled to reach him with their swords. 

‘Give me your spear, boy.’ Ferox was up, his face, arms and chest all spattered with blood. He snatched the shaft from the auxiliary and ran towards Vindex and the others. ‘Mongrels!’ he screamed at them. 

Sabinus’ hands were smeared red. He glanced at Molacus and wished that he had not, because there was just bloody pulp where the man’s face should have been. Neither he nor the other decurion were moving. Sabinus struggled to accept that for the first time he had killed a man. It had all been so sudden with no time to think.

‘What’s happening, sir?’ the soldier asked. 

Ferox raised the spear as he ran to help his friend. It was a sturdy hasta, too heavy to throw all that far, so he pounded down the slope to close the distance. Vindex had lost his sword and cloak as he scrambled to avoid their attacks, but at least he was still moving and at least neither of the men had spears. From horseback it was hard to reach a man on the ground with only a sword – hard, but not impossible. 

‘Come on, you mongrels!’ he screamed again, trying to distract them. ‘Your king was a pimp and a coward!’ 

They heard him. As one man reined in, his mount reared and for a moment Ferox thought that the rider might be thrown, until he recovered. It was Ivonercus and, like all Brigantes, he was a fine horseman. You had to give them that, and that they were easy men to like and admire. 

‘Bastards!’ Ferox bellowed, not checking, but pulling the spear back a little more to give the throw as much force as he could. Ivonercus hesitated for an instant, and Ferox could sense his urge to charge and finish it once and for all. 

‘Come on!’ It was Sabinus, leading the lone auxiliary, and perhaps that made up his mind, for Ivonercus turned and fled, calling to his companion to follow. Ferox pelted towards them, desperate to close the distance before he made his one throw. They were still forty paces away, and slowed as the horses turned. He gained just a little, left arm out straight to help, aiming at Ivonercus who was closest as well as the one who really mattered. 

Then just as he threw, his hobnailed boots slipped on ice and his feet flew from under him. The hasta went high, almost straight up, as Ferox hit the ground hard. 

Vindex cackled, trying to sit up, until the laughter grew too strong and he lay back down. Sabinus was waving Ferox’s sword high as he reached them. 

‘Are you hurt, sir?’ he asked, his face a mix of concern and obvious excitement. 

Ferox sighed. ‘Only my pride – and I’ve never had much of that.’

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About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy is a respected historian of the ancient world. He studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army, and he went on to write acclaimed works of non-fiction including Caesar, Hadrian's Wall, and Philip and Alexander. His fiction includes the authentic and action-packed Vindolanda Trilogy, set in Roman Britain.