• Book cover of Babycakes
    Best Contemporary Romance Novels

    Babycakes by Donna Kauffman

    A dessert baker finds romance in a small Southern town just as sweet as her cupcakes.

    Kit Bellamy was raised on pie. Mamie Sue’s Peanut Pies, to be exact—the family company her scheming brother-in-law sold out from under her. Now Kit needs a new recipe for her life, and Georgia’s Sugarberry Island seems to have all the ingredients. In that sleepy Southern town, Kit finds a new job running the mail-order cupcake business Babycakes…and meets the tall, dark, and adorable lawyer Morgan Westlake.

    Having just moved to the island to raise his goddaughter, Morgan is as mouthwatering as any of Kit’s creations. There’s just one fly in the batter: Morgan hails from the very law firm that helped crush her dreams. Fortunately, Kit’s new friends can assure her that Morgan is no typical Westlake–and that even lawyers, not to mention single dads, need romance. If Kit can just be persuaded to follow her appetite—her sweetest dreams just might come true. The author on incorporating food in her writing:

    “I think that writing about food encompasses all of our senses. Food is a lot like life and relationships and people in that it stimulates your sense of smell, your sense of taste, your touch. Everything about it is wound up into this one element and I think we all obviously enjoy food so there’s that universal element. I think it can be done both in a way that’s entertaining and interesting and fun, but it’s also very sensual and interesting, and I think it adds a certain element of tension going on between the couple too.”
    Donna Kauffman

     

     

  • Book cover of Faith in the Mountain Valley
    Best Christian Romance Books

    Faith in the Mountain Valley by Misty M. Beller

    This epic journey is the only way to leave her secrets behind.

    After eleven years spent looking for the girl who stole his heart, Jean-Jacques Baptiste—better known as French to his friends—is tempted to give up. Until the day he spotted the flaxen-haired stranger traveling the wooded path with Blackfoot Indians. He never imagined he’d find his childhood friend masquerading as a man in this Rocky Mountain wilderness, hundreds of miles from the Canadian town where he last saw her. No matter her reasons, he can’t let her go this time.

    Colette Mignon’s life has become a cacophony of lies, including the fact that her Blackfoot Indian companions believe she’s a man. She’s willing to live the taxing life of a trapper in these desolate mountains as long as it keeps her secrets hidden. When her childhood friend and first love discovers her, his determination to help might put everything at risk.

    As the worst of her past threatens to catch up with her, the hope for Colette’s new life shatters. But no matter what, she must protect the one good thing that came from all her mistakes. Though French is determined to stay at her side, she can’t let him become entangled in the perilous consequences of her actions. If only it wasn’t so painful to push him away. The danger pressing in may leave her only one choice—leave everything behind…again.

    The author on writing about certain topics, periods, or characters:

    “I don’t generally like to shy away from settings or characters because of the way our culture views them today. I love history and try to stay as true to the setting as I can. I also firmly believe that no group of people should be judged as a whole on their general reputation. People are individuals, and there are good and bad in every race and time period. I work hard to portray that clearly through my characters.”
    Misty M. Beller

     

     

  • Book cover of The Lost Castle
    Best Christian Romance Books,  Best Historical Romance Books

    The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron

    The French Revolution, World War II, and present day—three resilient women’s stories are interwoven by an enchanting storybook castle that stands witness to their lives.

    1789: Aveline Saint-Moreau is a wealthy and beautiful young aristocrat preparing for her betrothal to the Duc et Vivay’s heir Philippe, but the French Revolution looms as the Bastille is stormed in Paris. 1944: Viola Hart is a Resistance fighter in France during World War II, desperately trying to root out the evil taking hold in her country as the Nazis occupy France. Present day: Ellie Carver is in a race against time to deliver a decades-overdue message as her grandmother fades into the shadows of Alzheimer’s. Embarking on a journey to France’s Loire Valley, Ellie can only hope to unearth the secrets of the mysterious castle before time silences them forever. As Ellie’s journey unfolds, so too do the journeys of the two other women, each of their stories woven together through their connection with the forgotten French castle—a castle that plays a part in saving each one of them. The author on her favorite part of the writing process:
    “I’m an art and history addict. I love the research part of each writing experience, and falling into the characters’ worlds. Sometimes the experience is so real, it takes me a few days to remember I’m not living in France, 1944… Examining a place in history and then breathing life into it through the characters’ eyes really is an incredible journey that I long to relive with each book.”
    Kristy Cambron
       
  • Book cover of Bringing Down the Duke
    Best Historical Romance Books

    Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

    Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke…

    England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain’s politics at the Queen’s command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can’t deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for. Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn’t be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn’t claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring…or could he?

    “Like Annabelle, I went to Oxford on a scholarship, and while I was writing, I felt the feeling that this education was my key to a better, independent life all over again. It made me very sympathetic toward Annabelle as she struggled to keep juggling all her responsibilities only to be ambushed by a most inappropriate, irresistible love interest..”
    Evie Dunmore

    Evie also shared with us a quote that inspires her:

    “”Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
    ~ Mary Oliver

     

     

  • Book cover of Loving the Billionaire Heir Doc
    Best Contemporary Romance Novels

    Loving the Billionaire Heir Doc by Dobi Daniels

    A doctor who’s guarded her heart for so long. A hospital billionaire determined to break down her walls. And secrets that could destroy everything…

    Driven Alicia Montgomery is managing her busy life as best as she can, both as a star medical resident at the prestigious Dexington Medical Center and as a guardian for her sick niece. But when an expensive experimental treatment becomes the only way to save her niece’s life, and a chance to win a sizable monetary prize after presenting at a hospital symposium arises, Alicia jumps at the opportunity. Only she has to co-present with Blake Dexington. Her new enemy. A handsome doctor who seems set on infuriating her at every turn! Billionaire doctor Blake Dexington has to win the hospital board’s approval to take over his father’s position as CEO, and presenting at the upcoming hospital symposium, with the board members in attendance, would be his best move. Yet he has to do so with Alicia, the beautiful, smart doctor he can’t stop thinking about, even though love should be the last thing on his mind. As they’re forced to work together, would they give in to love, or would their secrets destroy any chance at a happily ever after? The author’s “warning” to the reader about this book:

    “This sweet enemies-to-lovers romance will send you on a tender, heartwarming ride filled with unexpected twists and surprising secrets. Side effects can occur if you’re allergic to all-the-feels, strong heroines, and swoon-worthy doctor heroes.”
    Dobi Daniels