Evie told herself not to fall for her pro-hockey crush. But when she sees him holding her baby girl, all bets are off. When Evie moves South to the same mountain town where her childhood crush plays pro-hockey, she arms herself with all the reasons why she can’t fall for him again. Number one: Alec is her best friend’s much older brother. Number two: She’s recently divorced and does not need another man in her life. At least not anytime soon. Number three: With a four-month-old daughter, she has zero time for dating. Trouble is, Evie doesn’t know another soul in North Carolina, so when her rental floods before she’s even moved in, her only option is to crash with Alec for a few weeks. When she protests, he insists it’s what he’d do for his sister, and that’s basically what she is to him. But all these years later, the unexpected chemistry between them definitely says otherwise. A new relationship is risky when Evie is still licking her wounds from her divorce, and she has no idea if Alec has any desire to be a dad. His sister already warned he isn’t the type to settle down. But she can’t make herself care about any of that. Not until she’s already fallen, and it might be too late to save herself from another heartbreak.

Evie told herself not to fall for her pro-hockey crush. But when she sees him holding her baby girl, all bets are off. When Evie moves South to the same mountain town where her childhood crush plays pro-hockey, she arms herself with all the reasons why she can’t fall for him again. Number one: Alec is her best friend’s much older brother. Number two: She’s recently divorced and does not need another man in her life. At least not anytime soon. Number three: With a four-month-old daughter, she has zero time for dating. Trouble is, Evie doesn’t know another soul in North Carolina, so when her rental floods before she’s even moved in, her only option is to crash with Alec for a few weeks. When she protests, he insists it’s what he’d do for his sister, and that’s basically what she is to him. But all these years later, the unexpected chemistry between them definitely says otherwise. A new relationship is risky when Evie is still licking her wounds from her divorce, and she has no idea if Alec has any desire to be a dad. His sister already warned he isn’t the type to settle down. But she can’t make herself care about any of that. Not until she’s already fallen, and it might be too late to save herself from another heartbreak.

Two broken souls and a spark that can't be ignored. Famous hockey player Kieran Ashford is the NHL's favorite headline, but when his reputation catches up to him in the form of a surprise phone call and a mute three-year-old daughter he didn't know existed, Kieran is suddenly thrown into the depths of fatherhood. Now, at least, the quick-witted book addict has something she can't say no to—a job offer. Because Layla Carson needs a paycheck. After spending over a year in Berlin participating in a clinical trial for her lupus, Layla is painfully aware of how her medical bills have drained her parents' bank account. When the opportunity arises to become a nanny, Layla can't refuse. As the pair help build a home for the little girl who desperately needs them both, the walls around their hearts begin to crumble. Layla learns there's more to Kieran than the flirtatious winks and playful personality, while he's determined to show her more beyond her temporary reality. But when forever was never guaranteed for either of them, they'll need to fight for the chance of a new life.

Evie told herself not to fall for her pro-hockey crush. But when she sees him holding her baby girl, all bets are off. When Evie moves South to the same mountain town where her childhood crush plays pro-hockey, she arms herself with all the reasons why she can’t fall for him again. Number one: Alec is her best friend’s much older brother. Number two: She’s recently divorced and does not need another man in her life. At least not anytime soon. Number three: With a four-month-old daughter, she has zero time for dating. Trouble is, Evie doesn’t know another soul in North Carolina, so when her rental floods before she’s even moved in, her only option is to crash with Alec for a few weeks. When she protests, he insists it’s what he’d do for his sister, and that’s basically what she is to him. But all these years later, the unexpected chemistry between them definitely says otherwise. A new relationship is risky when Evie is still licking her wounds from her divorce, and she has no idea if Alec has any desire to be a dad. His sister already warned he isn’t the type to settle down. But she can’t make herself care about any of that. Not until she’s already fallen, and it might be too late to save herself from another heartbreak.

I told a judge I was engaged to my best friend. Now we’re faking it. How hard can it be? My life has room for exactly two women: my daughter Rusty and my best friend Charlotte — known to everyone as Charlie. One is a feisty, tomboyish firecracker. The other is my seven-year-old. I can’t imagine life without either. So when my ex springs a custody hearing on me, I find myself telling the judge that I’m engaged to Charlie. The only problem? I’m not. Time to fake an engagement. Pretending we’re a couple will be no big deal. We’ve been friends for years. We used to sneak cigarettes behind the bleachers. We turned cans of hairspray into flamethrowers. We got drunk on stolen malt liquor. She’s beautiful, vivacious, spontaneous, and she loves my daughter to death. It’s the perfect answer: we fake it for a few months, then go back to our lives. Until we touch, and sparks fly. Until I can’t take my eyes off her. Until I can’t stop thinking about what she’s got on under her coveralls. It takes one kiss. One touch. One shared secret and suddenly, I’m not pretending anymore. I want her, I need her in ways I didn’t know I could. But there’s a lifetime of friendship between us, and falling in love with Charlie could risk everything.

I told a judge I was engaged to my best friend. Now we’re faking it. How hard can it be? My life has room for exactly two women: my daughter Rusty and my best friend Charlotte — known to everyone as Charlie. One is a feisty, tomboyish firecracker. The other is my seven-year-old. I can’t imagine life without either. So when my ex springs a custody hearing on me, I find myself telling the judge that I’m engaged to Charlie. The only problem? I’m not. Time to fake an engagement. Pretending we’re a couple will be no big deal. We’ve been friends for years. We used to sneak cigarettes behind the bleachers. We turned cans of hairspray into flamethrowers. We got drunk on stolen malt liquor. She’s beautiful, vivacious, spontaneous, and she loves my daughter to death. It’s the perfect answer: we fake it for a few months, then go back to our lives. Until we touch, and sparks fly. Until I can’t take my eyes off her. Until I can’t stop thinking about what she’s got on under her coveralls. It takes one kiss. One touch. One shared secret and suddenly, I’m not pretending anymore. I want her, I need her in ways I didn’t know I could. But there’s a lifetime of friendship between us, and falling in love with Charlie could risk everything.

With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley blends historical fantasy with epic romance at the turn of the 20th century in this unforgettable New York fairytale of queer identity and found family. Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon. The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own. A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.

Opposites attract, sure. But when Manhattan glitz collides with Texas grit, will love be enough? Noël: Manhattan is my heart and soul. In the cutthroat world of elite public relations, I’m one of the princes. I manage global superstars, predict the up-and-coming trends, easy. And social media? That’s my specialty. I can make you, hon, and launch you straight to the stratosphere. My life is champagne glitter and starlight, and everything around me is gold. But then, my own wedding bells turn into alarm bells, and suddenly, I'm off to Cancun—alone. Alone with a first-class ticket to a honeymoon for one. All that gold? Tarnished tin. Everything I thought I knew? Gone. Cancun is supposed to be where I obliterate myself on margaritas and tropical waves. Forget the past, shake off the pain, and look ahead. It's my strategy, always has been. But beneath it all, I long for someone to see the real me, the Noël I’ve hidden away for years. I’m so damn lonely. And then I meet Wyatt. He’s nothing like me. He’s a rancher from Texas, he can’t tell me whether high waist jeans are in or out, and he’d rather work his fields than rub elbows with celebs. Velvet rope lines and VIP access are meaningless to him. He’s also kinder than me, and altruistic in a way I haven’t seen since cargo pants died as a trend in the early 2000s. He’s the best man I’ve ever met. And that’s a problem, because all of his big-hearted warmth and Texas gentleness is drawing me in. I'm desperate to surrender, but I can’t. Good things aren’t meant for me. I’m no good for Wyatt. In fact, I’m his looming heartbreak. So why am I kissing him? Wyatt: I’m a man of the land, made from the Texas soil I work on, strengthened by the vineyard I tend to. It's a world I've carefully nurtured, a balm for the wounds of my past. This life hasn’t been easy, but it’s mine. I’m fiercely protective of the world I’ve built for me, my brother, his fiancée, and my nephew. The four of us are everything that matters to me, and my life and my cares extend to my cross fences and the edges of my range. Everything else out there? It’s all just dust in the wind. And then Noël blows into my life. I’m gone. Captivated, spun around, tipped upside down and torn apart. I can’t breathe; being around Noël makes me feel like I’m sixteen again and hiding all my secret fantasies and unspoken desires. I’m down in Cancun with my family, and this isn’t the time to be falling for a guy, but how can you not fall head over heels when the man of your dreams walks into your world? Noël’s many multi-hued layers fascinate me and perplex me, and I want to spend every minute unraveling him. Noël's life is glittering gold, and mine is Texas soil, but I can learn to understand Manhattan, pop culture, and celebrities if that means I get to be Noël's man. But does Noël feel the same? What is this between us? Is it just a week that we both need, a Pause on life, out here in this place so far removed from our real lives? Or is this the start of something new and huge and life-changing for the two of us? What am I seeing in Noël's eyes when he looks at me? And what’s going to happen when this week ends? *** How to Say I Do is an opposites-attract, slow-burn, bi-awakening, rom-com-meets-heartfelt romance love story full of swoony beach vacation vibes, laugh-out-loud moments, and grab-your-chest heartache. Add a sprinkle of fake husbands, second chance romance, small town vibes, and celebrity shenanigans, and you’ve got the makings of Wyatt and Noël’s love story. Pour yourself into the sand and sun and enjoy Noël and Wyatt’s journey to their Happy Ever After.

She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other. From the author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the highly anticipated next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance featuring enemies to lovers and forced proximity. Teddy Andersen doesn't have a plan. She's never needed one before. She's always been more of a go with the flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn't seem to be going her way this time. Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it's starting to change. Teddy's used to being a leader, but now she feels like she's getting left behind, wondering if the life she lives in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore. Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn't know what's taking care of his family's 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he slips up, and he has to admit that he can't manage everything on his own. He needs help. His little sister's best friend, the woman he can't stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy's the only option he's got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he'll never find what he needs. Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether or not to act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?