So many people want perfection. There are so many books out there where boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married, and have a happily ever after. But the books on my list show you that not everything is perfect. Life isn’t perfect. Things aren’t always good or happy. I like when something beautiful is born from something ugly, and every book on this list is exactly that. Perfect with imperfections.
I loved this very emotional read. I loved the characters, the writing, and the story. The romance is steamy yet tasteful—extremely beautiful.
This is another book that gave me all the feels, but another story that left me feeling happy with the ending rather than feeling like I was left wanting more.
One night changed my life forever. Beau Bennett has been my best friend since I can remember. He was my first crush before everything came crashing down, and now he wants more, but it's more than I can give him. Things are different now. I wish I could tell him why, but I can't. I haven’t told anyone. I never knew how much I really needed him until the day he left for college, and I was completely alone. Then one day, Asher Hunt rides into town with his dark, captivating eyes and cocky grin. He doesn't care who I…
I definitely wouldn’t say I’m an expert…but I definitely have a passion for the topic of dominant, strong women! Especially when it comes to kink and BDSM, but in all aspects of life. I think most readers would agree, we are sick of seeing the Damsel in Distress and want someone who can kick some serious butt. I connect strongly with those stronger, sassier characters, and aim to write the same for other readers to connect with.
Joshua's main character and fiery Italian babe Bella is spot on! She’s got the confidence, she’s sassy, and has that typical Italian hot temper. Not dominant per say, but she’s powerful and has a certain charisma and charm. She’s relatable to those who know what they want and seek it out. I also like her softer side…which you will have to read to find out about!
Bella had watched her friends find the men of their dreams, while she'd wasted the last year with a man that had barely touched her. After meeting the mysterious business man, Joshua, she was hopeful he’d add some passion to her life. Only he kept leaving town, and had his longtime friend, Ava, house sit for him. What was up with that?
Joshua was finishing up a two-year expat assignment overseas and couldn’t wait to get back home to the USA for good. Especially after meeting the sexy Italian beauty, Bella, who he hoped would still be single when he…
I love a little humor from romantic trysts or tales of woe of that one love that got away. Divulged conversations and gossip on the therapy couch can be fascinating (massage work relaxes the body and mind). Clients worldwide find choosing their ideal partner a lottery. Inspiration struck me to look more closely at how marriage choices are made through the heart or the mind. We all search for the perfect soul mate. Learning how others met was intriguing by chance or manipulated. Clearly showing, fate did seem to be at play in most cases. I love creating escapism to let your wild romantic dreams be a possibility.
Romance themes are easy for readers, but the escapism and scenarios are vast. This novel, set in the Big Apple, New York, hits the mark well. Some twists and turns, never knowing the final outcome. How random situations happen can make you think of serendipity at play.
Does fate have more control than you think? An intriguing concept. Thrown into the mix of engagements and weddings, tempers can flare. The stubbornness of characters with some excellent scenes where you feel the emotion and are in the midst of the story. Travels from the USA to Dublin, the story has a homely, feel-good vibe for romantic lovers.
I found the writing tone tight and to the point in places, and I never quite knew how things would pan out for the key players.
Doesn't every girl dream of getting... something from Tiffany's?
On 5th Avenue in New York City, two very different men are shopping for gifts for the women they love.
Gary is buying his girlfriend Rachel a charm bracelet. Partly to thank her for paying for their holiday-of-a-lifetime to New York. But mainly because he's left his shopping far too late.
Whereas Ethan's looking for something a little more special - an engagement ring for the first woman to have made him happy since he lost the love of his life.
But when the two men's shopping bags get confused, and…
I can’t sing. I never listen to music. I can’t remember where I heard about this book or why I tried the sample, but once I started reading, I could not stop.
Harmon is a master novelist. She invites us into a new world, wraps us up in the characters’ lives, and doesn’t let go. It’s the 1960s U.S., with mobs running the show, with racism running rampant, with lives in danger in so many ways, especially when a white songwriter and a black singer fall in love and decide to marry.
I’m usually a fast reader, but this book took me a long time. I had to stop after every two or three chapters to give myself time to fully absorb the story. When I was done, I had a powerful urge to reread it, an urge I put aside with full intent to reread the book at a…
From the bestselling author of What the Wind Knows and From Sand and Ash comes a powerful love story about a musical duo who put everything on the line to be together.
New York, 1960: For Benny Lament, music is his entire life. With his father's deep ties to the mob, the Bronx piano man has learned that love and family can get you in trouble. So he keeps to himself, writing songs for other musicians, avoiding the spotlight...until the night his father brings him to see Esther Mine sing.
Esther is a petite powerhouse with a gorgeous voice. And…
I’m Jill Santopolo, a novelist, editor, and mom who was born in New York and currently lives in Washington, DC. I’ve written Everything After, More Than Words, and The Light We Lost, which was the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick in February 2018. My books have been named to The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Apple, and Indiebound bestseller lists, and have been translated into more than 35 languages. I love Instagram and rarely ever use Twitter (but you can find me there, too)--and music makes my heart sing. When I was growing up I learned to play the piano, flute, and piccolo, and I loved singing and dancing.
Renee Carlino’s book about being in love—and loving music—when you’re in your early 20s is the kind of story that feels like time travel. She captures life and love and grief and confusion so perfectly. And for anyone who has ever found guitar players sexy, well, I bet Will will win your heart.
Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She's an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.
When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father's cafe, a treasured neighbourhood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists. She's denied…
Not only am I an avid reader of the urban love/romance/erotica genre, but I'm an award-winning, bestselling author in the genre, having written under multiple pen names. I've worked with enough traditional editors and freelance editors to know a well-crafted, entertaining, engaging read of this nature when I not only write one—ha!—but read one. As an author, I rarely offer book reviews—you'll only find one review from me on Amazon—but that's because I'm brutally honest and hard to win over, and I respect my relationship with my fellow literary artists too much to risk it on a not-so-favorable review. So, you know when I say it’s good, it’s good.
If Nikki Turner's Hustler's Wife had a little sister, it would be this book. Oh, to be young, dumb, and in love again... or never again. The author puts it in the reader's hand to determine if love truly conquers all, or if all conquers love. Guess it depends on how strong that love truly is.
When her brother is killed, Trouble, who has everything she could ever want because of her brother and his “complex occupation”, embarks on a mission of revenge that involves seducing the enemy and then killing him.
I’ve floated on the water next to many alligators. They’re actually quite nice. I know this because I have an obsession–one that takes me often to the South Carolina Lowcountry. It motivates me to research and experience and write. Books were my escape as a child, and now, I get to create the kind of novels I love–ones with an element of romance and a satisfying ending. I grew up in Alabama and now live in California, so maybe it’s nostalgia, but Southern culture is fascinating, and when you throw romantic relationships into the (well-seasoned cast iron) pot, there are infinite stories to be told.
I used to think JFK Jr was better looking than Brad Pitt.
He had everything going for him–true love, wealth, and a family that was as close to American royalty as it gets.Meant To Be by Emily Giffin rewrites his real-life tragedy.
She gives those of us who hopefully and jealously gawked at him and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a new ending–one that doesn’t involve their deaths in the cold waters outside of Martha’s Vineyard. It’s part romance, part fiction, part history, and all escapism.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - He's American royalty. She comes from a troubled past. Is their love story meant to be? This "lively page-turner" (The New York Times) offers a nostalgic, hopelessly romantic escape--from the author of Something Borrowed and The Lies That Bind.
"I'm a sucker for an iconic, against-all-odds love story, and Meant to Be truly delivers."--Tia Williams, author of Seven Days in June
"A chic, history-inspired summer read [that] strikes a careful balance between simply retelling the true story of JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and crafting an entirely new one."--Bookreporter
I have cerebral palsy, but the list of things that I absolutely can’t do is surprisingly short: I can climb a flight of steps or walk the length of a football field, for example, but those tasks are going to take a lot more time and energy for me than they would an able-bodied person. We all choose where to invest in life, but cerebral palsy makes that process much more deliberate, and I’ve been fascinated by it for a long time. I’m always on the hunt for stories that demonstrate that our choices shape our life, not our limitations, and I’m determined to choose joy.
This is one of my favorite audiobooks ever, and the best romance I’ve ever listened to, and that’s unsurprising since Julia Whelan is my favorite audiobook narrator. When I learned she had written a romance about an audiobook narrator, I knew I had to listen to the audiobook she narrated herself. Julia did not disappoint as an author or a performer. I loved how this book presents a romance based both on strong attraction and a relationship that grows over time.
I was greatly entertained by glimpses into the audiobook industry, and I appreciated the nuances of a story about how we often have more control than we realize when it comes to the power our limitations have over us.
From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan's uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator-who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident-and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.
For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She's found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother.…
I have always loved fairy tales, myths, and fantasy, having developed a vivid imagination during childhood because we lived far from friends. When I began studying French, I discovered a love for medieval legends such as Tristan et Yseult. During trips to France, I explored troglodyte caves of the Loire Valley and prehistoric grottos, such as La Grotte de Lascaux. The more I researched legends and myths, the more my fantasy world of paranormal romance and shapeshifting warriors evolved.
I loved how otherworldly mates Rhys and Feyre formed a fierce alliance with the winged Illyrian warriors of the Night Court. A fiery novel of passion, power, politics, and pain—all wrapped up in a sizzling, steamy, paranormal romance filled with fantasy and Fae!
To me, the passion between Rhys and Feyre is very much like The Phantom of the Opera, which I adored. Rhys is dark, mysterious, and dangerously seductive, like the Phantom. And Feyre, like Christine Daaé, is irresistibly drawn to the fiercely loyal man within the terrifying beast.
The epic third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing…
I’m a self-published romance author with a hankering for angst and sports romance. As an international bestselling author myself, I’m addicted to finding the next book that will make my pulse race, my eyes red from reading all night, and my stomach ache with the desperation of wanting to dive into the fictional world an author has created. You can follow all my book reviews on Goodreads, and check out my bestselling sports romances on my website.
I've never read anything with this style of writing. Ever. It was refreshing and poignant while also having the ability to sucker-punch me right in the chest with angsty goodness. I knew I would be walking into a sports romance, I had heard she could write the schmexiness, but what I didn't know was that Moonshot would be so un-put-downable that I would be a worthless human being until I devoured every last page - and devour I did.
Baseball wasn't supposed to be a game of life and death...
The summer that Chase Stern entered my life, I was seventeen. The daughter of a legend, the Yankees were my family, their stadium my home, their dugout my workplace. My focus was on the game. Chase ... he started out as a distraction. A distraction with sex appeal poured into every inch of his six foot frame. A distraction who played like a god and partied like a devil.
I tried to stay away. I couldn't.
Then, the team started losing.
Women started dying.
And everything in my perfect…
