• Best Historical Romance Books

    Three Weeks to Wed by Ella Quinn

    March 19, 2021

    Meet the soon-to-be Earl and Countess of Worthington in the first book in a dazzling series…

    Lady Grace Carpenter is ready to seize the day—or rather, the night—with the most compelling man she’s ever known. Marriage would mean losing guardianship of her beloved siblings, and surely no sane gentleman will take on seven children not his own. But if she can have one anonymous tryst with Mattheus, Earl of Worthington, Grace will be content to live out the rest of her life as a spinster. 

    Matt had almost given up hope of finding a wife who could engage his mind as well as his body. And now this sensual, intelligent woman is offering herself to him. What could be more perfect? Except that after one wanton night, the mysterious Grace refuses to have anything to do with him. Amid the distractions of the Season he must convince her, one delicious encounter at a time, that no obstacle—or family—is too much for a man who’s discovered his heart’s desire . . .

    The author on how she discovers her characters:

    “My characters discover me! It started with my first book. I’ve followed my characters ever since. They literally come up and introduce themselves to me.”

    Ella Quinn
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  • Best Romantic Suspense Books

    Overflow by Brynne Asher

    March 12, 2021

    There’s nothing like getting caught in the middle of an FBI raid to change your life…

    That’s what happens to Gabrielle Carpino. Just when she forced herself to move on with life after tragedy touched her family, she finds herself thrown into a tailspin so swift, she can’t find her bearings. Being cuffed and patted down by Special Agent Jude Ortiz is enough to wake anyone up. With his dark chocolate eyes and commanding ways, Gabby can’t resist. And between battling criminals, flooded basements, fantasy football drafts, and her crazy Italian family, Jude also finds himself unable to resist her charms.  

    That doesn’t mean he isn’t wrestling feelings he hasn’t allowed in years. Nightmares that are his reality have paralyzed him from living a full life. Yet, he can’t help himself when it comes to her and Jude moves in to watch over Gabby. But just when life seems to be settling down, demons surface from the past. Horrific ones that carry a vengeance so evil, no one saw them coming.

    The author on three characteristics of her writing style:

    “My heroines are very important to me. I hope they are all strong in their own way, yet still feminine.I love secondary characters–they add so much to a story… Finally, a book that has a balance is important to me. I like angst, drama, humor, and suspense. But too much of one thing in a book can drag it down.”

    Brynne Asher
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  • Best Romantic Suspense Books

    Shattered With You by J. Kenner

    March 5, 2021

    Charismatic. Dangerous. Sexy as hell. Meet the elite team at Stark Security.

    Quincy Radcliffe has fast become a key asset at the newly formed Stark Security. A former British agent with lethal skills and criminal connections, it’s a no-brainer for him to rise through the ranks. But Quincy isn’t the man he appears to be. And one woman could expose all his secrets. Once, he worshipped Eliza Tucker. He adored her body and then broke her heart. But now she needs help, and he’s the only man that can do it. Quincy knows he must either turn his back on her or risk revealing his dark past to the one woman who can—and will—tear open his old wounds.

    For years, Eliza has tried to forget the man who shattered her. His smoldering good looks had drawn her in; his British charm had enchanted her. But it was the wildness of his seduction and the ferocity of his passion that captured her. She’d given herself to him—and he’d destroyed her. Now, he’s the only person who can help find her missing sister. She’ll use him because she has to. She’ll pay anything he demands, whether in the bank or the bedroom. She won’t fall for him again. But what if it isn’t her choice to make?

    The author on writing damaged male leads:

    “Oh, I could get all psychoanalytical, but I think the bottom line is that the classic story that love heals. Your hero (or your heroine or both) is damaged. Broken. But once they find their other half – once they find the person who completes them – then they’re healed and they can make their way to their happily ever after. Love conquers all …”

    J. Kenner
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  • Best Christian Romance Books

    Shade of Blue by Karen Kingsbury

    February 19, 2021

    A fairytale future. A Checkered past. A decision awaits.

    In between a checkered past and a fairytale future, a decision awaits. Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Anyone would agree he has it all—a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancée, and a fairy tale life ahead of him … when memories of a high school girlfriend begin to torment him.

    Lost innocence and one very difficult choice flood his conscience, and he is no longer sure what the future will bring except for this: He must go back to the shores of Holden Beach in search of his first love, and a forgiveness neither of them has ever known. Three people must work through the repercussions of a decision made long ago before any of them can look toward a new future.

    A Snippet from her interview of the novel on YouTube:

    “Shades of Blue is a story that I’ve been wanting to write for several years. I realized that I could not write a book about healing and forgiveness after abortion without being honest about my story.”

    Karen Kingsbury
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  • Best Contemporary Romance Novels

    Forever This Time by Maggie McGinnis

    February 12, 2021

    Snowflake Village might hold more than just ghosts from the past. It might hold the possibility of a second chance at love…

    Boston therapist Josie Kendrew specializes in helping other people mend their broken hearts, but her own heart is another story. After years of putting distance between herself and her childhood home, she’s forced to rush back to Echo Lake, Vermont when her father has a stroke, but once she arrives, painful memories threaten to send her driving right back out of town. Between her sweet “little sister” and Ethan Miller, the boy she left behind, Josie finds herself face-to-face with a pain she’s not sure she can endure. Ethan is now—wow—all man, and he’s sitting in the CFO chair of Snowflake Village, her family’s Christmas-themed amusement park … a place noted by journalists as charming and sweet and festive, but a place she’s derisively called Camp Ho-Ho forever—or at least since she was old enough to watch the twinkly lights and endless hours destroy her parents.

    Ethan Miller never set out to be the one left behind, but when Josie blew out of town ten years ago with no explanation, suddenly that’s who he was. After a week spent mostly in a Jim Beam haze, he tucked her engagement ring in a drawer and set out to make a life for himself, though their history gnaws at him every day he walks the pathways of Snowflake Village. A lot has changed since Josie fled, so when she drives back in, a mixture of angry, scared, and sad, he has no idea whether she’ll stay … or leave him shattered once again.

    A review on the novel:

    “Launching the Echo Lake contemporary series, McGinnis weaves an engrossing and uplifting tale of enduring love.”

    Publishers Weekly
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  • Best Contemporary Romance Novels

    If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

    February 5, 2021

    If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real?

    When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.

    Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…

    The author on the genre of chick lit/romantic comedy novels:

    “I’m not sure I’m placed to say it’s evolving. I definitely want it to feel like feminism is a thing, but those two things shouldn’t be separate. I mean, you write about women’s lives, why isn’t feminism inherent? I hope Twilight and Fifty Shades are a blip and we get back to spirited, confident, intelligent women. The trouble with romantic comedy is obviously: how does the girl get the guy? That’s the plot, but you’ve got to be very careful that the girl doesn’t get defined by the bloke.”

    Mhairi McFarlane
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  • Best Gothic Romance,  Best Historical Romance Books

    Seduced by a Stranger by Eve Silver

    January 22, 2021

    When Catherine Weston journeys to Cairncroft Abbey, she meets Gabriel St. Aubyn and must decide if he is a monster or a man she dares to love.

    Destitute and desperate, Catherine Weston accepts the summons from her childhood friend Madeline St. Aubyn to attend her at Cairncroft Abbey, a place of secrets, lies, and murder. Madeline’s health is in a poor state and she is terrified of her cousin, Gabriel. But Gabriel has quite a different effect on Catherine, stirring longings and desires she believed long buried.

    Gabriel St. Aubyn is haunted by the horrors of both his past and his present, horrors he conceals behind a remote, unapproachable facade. He is drawn to Catherine but is determined to protect her from the tragedies that yet have claws sunk deep in his soul. 

    Then a young woman is found dead, and Madeline’s ravings point to a link between this horrific crime and Gabriel—and Catherine must decide if he is a man worthy of her love or a sinister stranger determined to make her his next victim.

    A review on Seduced by a Stranger:

    “Eve Silver’s talent for formulating a gripping story is in a class all its own…Her tales are going to have you at the edge of your seat in wonder, and her heroes will undoubtedly cause your heart to pound in more ways than one”

    Barbara, 123 Books
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  • Paranormal Romance

    Fugitive Mate by Anastasia Wilde

    January 15, 2021

    A fugitive mate, a desperate alpha, and one wild night.

    Emma Wilkes is on the run from her ex-boyfriend—with a stolen laptop containing evidence of his crimes. When she meets a hot guy in a truck stop bar, she pretends to be his date, hoping to throw her ex’s hit squad off her trail.

    Alpha wolf Jace Monroe has only weeks to find a true mate and bond with her, or he’ll lose his pack and his territory. To him, the stranger coming on to him is just a delectably curvy distraction from his troubles. But to his wolf, she’s the one. So when Emma steals Jace’s motorcycle and vanishes from his motel room in the middle of the night, Jace vows to track her down and find out who she really is—a conniving con woman, or the mate he’s been waiting for all his life. But can he find her—and persuade her to trust him—before time runs out for both of them?

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  • Best Historical Romance Books

    The King’s Favorite by Tanya Anne Crosby

    January 8, 2021

    Bartering a deal with their “witchy” mother, Stephen the Usurper intends to wed all five sisters to his “new men.”

    Fearing her “gifts” will be used to defeat her sister Matilda, Elspeth Pendragon escapes the Black Mountain priory that has sheltered her and her four sisters since King Henry’s death, only to find herself indebted to, of all men, a Scotsman, whose loyalties are in question… 

    Left to face the wrath of a new sovereign, Malcom Scott is forced to swear fealty to Stephen of Blois to keep the castle he won by slaying his own grandfather. But having done that, he’s pitted himself against Scotland, and even his own father. But even as Malcom realizes there’s no turning back, the late King’s favorite illegitimate daughter may offer him more than he ever bargained for.

    The author on her best research methods:

    “I used to be a member of the Haskin’s Society, as well as the Society for Creative Anachronism. I have been to several festivals and always enjoy it. These days I rely either on travel or my research books, as well as oral accounts.”

    Tanya Anne Crosby
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  • Best Christian Romance Books,  Best Historical Romance Books,  Best Romantic Suspense Books

    In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson

    December 18, 2020

    Croft Towers holds more than its share of secrets . . . and Sybil is determined to uncover them all.

    When Sybil Delafield’s coach to Croft Towers was robbed by highwaymen, she should have realized that her new position as companion to old Mrs. Chalcroft would be no ordinary job. Upon Sybil’s arrival, Mrs. Chalcroft sneaks into her room in the dark of night, imploring her to relay messages to town that are to stay hidden from the rest of the family. Who exactly is she working for and what do the messages contain?

    When fellow passengers of the robbed coach are later murdered, Sybil’s hunt for the truth takes on a new urgency. The only person she can rely on is Mr. Sinclair, Mrs. Chalcroft’s godson, but under all his charms he too leads a double life. Sybil must decide if he is the one honest voice she can trust, or if he is simply using her for his own advances.

    A lesson God taught the author while writing the novel:

    “At the heart of my novel is the theme of trust. The heroine, Sybil, must make several difficult decisions where she learns to trust her inner voice, which is sometimes at odds with the seemingly obvious choice. God used this story line and character arc to remind me that answers in my own life may not always be easy or quick or tied up in pretty pink bows, but that I needed to trust him—with everything!”

    Abigail Wilson
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