foundfamily

The Penalty Box

by Rebecca Zorg

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, firstperson

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He doesn't remember ruining her life. She's going to ensure he does. IVY Seven years ago, Gabriel Castellano took the best night of my life and turned it into a punchline, costing me the national team and the only future I'd planned. Now he's back. Traded to Whistler, parked in my booth with his new teammates, telling me to surprise him like he's never seen my face before. As far as he knows, he hasn't. So I did what any professional would do. I "accidentally" poured a pint of our worst IPA straight down his six-hundred-dollar shirt. Surprise. Here's the problem: his team just bought the sponsorship keeping my late father's bar alive—which makes the man I've spent seven years hating a fixture on the wrong side of my taps. And the longer he keeps showing up, the harder it gets to remember that I hate you was supposed to be the whole story. GABRIEL People have told me who to be since I was fifteen, and I've never once disappointed them. Golden boy. Franchise face. So I can't explain the bartender. She hates me—openly, specifically, like she's been waiting years to do it to my face. The worst part isn't that I don't know why. It's that I'm starting to think I should. The First Line, Book One. A slow-burn, high-angst, second chance, enemies-to-lovers hockey romance with a grovel that draws blood. [Read More]

The Sicilian Trap: A Grumpy Coach World Cup Spicy Soccer Rom-Com

by Mara J. Ova

Tropes: forcedproximity, firstperson, forbiddenlove

He demands absolute control to win the World Cup. She is the sunshine that refuses to bend. Grumpy Meets Sunshine • Forced Proximity • Steamy Soccer Romance • Opposites Attract • Workplace Romance • Protective Hero • World Cup Stakes • Slow-burn With Sparkling Chemistry • Hilarious Banter • Found Family • Italian Vibes Vincenzo Messina is a tactical genius who demands absolute control to win the World Cup, but his new PR director is a walking distraction. Armed with weaponized sunshine, Sofia Hofer threatens his sacred locker room, igniting a fiery clash of wills and sizzling chemistry they both refuse to acknowledge. Arriving at the secluded Base Camp, Sofia's relentless optimism immediately collides with Vincenzo’s dictatorial temper. She treats football as a passionless branding puzzle to protect, while the volcanic coach fiercely shields his squad from the media. Bound by a lucrative Armani sponsorship, they are forced into thirty days of inescapable proximity within a secure compound and high emotion during the matches. As the grueling tournament progresses, their battle lines blur. Sofia discovers the devout heart beneath his melodramatic touchline theatrics, while Vincenzo realizes her efficiency actually protects his players, shattering his defenses. He engineered the perfect tactical trap on the pitch, but her weaponized sunshine cornered his heart. With the championship final looming, they must choose between maintaining their rigid professional boundaries or risking a catastrophic public scandal for a passion they cannot control. The Sicilian Trap is a standalone, fast-paced, steamy soccer romantic comedy by Mara J. Ova featuring grumpy-meets-sunshine and forced proximity tropes. It is a perfect read during the US-hosted World Cup, and the Italian vibes make it an ideal summer escape. Scroll up and look inside to experience the explosive chemistry and high-stakes tension. [Read More]

Invisible

by Sonja J. Kaye

Tropes: slowburn, firstperson, magic

Life’s a mess for seventeen-year-old Olivia: she lost her mother, is sent to live with a foster family in England, and now her heartbreak unlocks a dormant Talent, a supernatural ability no one else in the world has. Turns out, that little sleepwalking problem she’s had all her life is a fickle teleportation skill that promptly ejects her into the Alaskan wilderness. Thanks a lot. Much to the dismay of her feminist pride, a grouchy bear puts her in dire need of saving—by a guy. Brilliant. Nineteen-year-old Jo has secrets he can’t ever share. If he does, he’s dead. Keeping hidden is the only way to free himself from the person forcing him to live in the woods. His rules for survival: stay invisible, stay focused, and for the love of life, do not talk to anyone. Easier said than done when this beautiful, sad girl keeps bouncing back to Alaska, cracking his locked heart wide open. Drawn deeper into Jo’s secretive spell and the inexplicable bond they share, Olivia investigates why her Talent keeps dragging her back to him, only to suspect he might be connected to the mystery surrounding her missing father who disappeared before she was born. When Jo, desperate to escape the life he’s trapped in to be with the soulmate he never thought he’d find, confronts the person behind his deadly secrets, he’s faced with a Talented mastermind whose blood runs in his veins. Now Olivia must save the boy in the wild from a killer, even when they turn their eyes on her. In this wildly romantic YA/crossover cozy fantasy, emotions and mystery weave into an unforgettable tale of love and loss, secrets and suspense, and intrigue and magic. Ideal for fans of deep yearning, atmospheric nature settings, and heart-shattering romance. [Read More]

Gold

by Runa Saevik

Tropes: forcedproximity, adventure, characterdriven

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Six weeks, a book about wine, no complications. That was the plan. Luca Casini's father left him one word before he died. Luca followed it across the border into Slovenia, telling everyone, including himself, that the trip was about research. Matej Kos makes cheese in a cave older than the border itself. He speaks rarely, builds walls that outlast empires, and has built a life in which no one can let him down, because no one is in it. Neither man came looking for company. Something fits almost at once, easy in a way neither trusts yet: coffee that goes cold while they talk, jokes pitched between insult and affection, whole days that fall into a rhythm before anyone decides they should. The wanting arrives, blunt and physical and impossible to talk their way around. But when a key hits the floor, everything quiet turns loud, and what the stone has been holding changes everything they thought they were building. Some places are inherited. Some are found. [Read More]

The Traitor’s Game

by Vanessa Jayde

Tropes: slowburn, firstperson, paranormal

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Camila The night I bonded with my Alpha should have been the happiest night of my life. Instead, it was the night I was accused of betraying the pack. I didn’t run because I wanted to. I ran because staying meant death. For a year, I’ve lived in the shadows, hiding from the man the blood bond ties me to. Every step away from him feels like a lie the bond refuses to believe. But I know he’s coming. And when he finds me, he won’t be looking for forgiveness. Thaddeus My Omega ran. For a year the blood bond has burned beneath my skin, demanding I find her. Demanding I drag the truth from her lips. She thinks she escaped me. She’s wrong. The pack answers to me now. The world bends to my will. And when I finally find the woman who betrayed me, I’ll take back everything she stole. Her secrets, her lies… and the heart that still belongs to me. [Read More]

The House of Tanzanite

by Onyx Damoure

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, magic

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The dead come to her. He chose to stay. Amadella Vaelora is the warning mothers whisper. The last daughter of House Tanzanite lives alone in the haunted forest of Nytherra, breaking curses, tending spirits, and carrying the blame for a betrayal three centuries old. The crown calls her bloodline a curse. The dead know better — and lately, the dead arrive wounded, whispering that the darkness pressing her wards has learned to aim. Commander Theron Valseic gave the crown his sword, his silence, and his whole ordered life. His reward is an assassin's curse buried beneath his ribs with surgical cruelty — and a slow death designed so that no one would ever know what killed him. Then he falls through her ward. Saving him should be simple. It isn't. The curse in his blood carries a court seal, the healing bond that can draw it out demands a choice from both of them — and the bond hides nothing. Not his loyalty to the crown that erased her family. Not her loneliness. Not the truth buried in the archives of Silverden Crossing that could either restore her house or finish what the purge began. Trust is how ruin begins. Every old lie says so. But if Amadella's truth stays buried, the Shroud takes more than her forest — and if Theron keeps his vows to the crown, he loses the only thing he has ever freely chosen. The House of Tanzanite is a high-heat adult fantasy romance featuring a wounded commander and a forbidden healer, forced proximity, a consent-gated magical bond, slow-burn devotion, spirit magic, political betrayal, found family, and a complete happily-ever-after. Content notes are included inside the book. [Read More]

My Hot New Problem

by Devyn Remi

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, paranormal

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When a fox shifter chief has a Skulk to run and a business to get off the ground, he doesn't need a sexy she-wolf distraction in heels to make him lose his senses. Love has burned Elle Lafleur too many times for her to let a silver fox turn her world upside down. The shadows of her past still lurk, threatening to consume everything she's rebuilt. Étienne Renardeau doesn't scare easily. The shadow is dark, and persistent. [Read More]

A.I. Human: A Reverse Harem Alien Romance

by MK Stephenson

Tropes: paranormal, foundfamily, sciencefiction

After spending weeks trapped in a cage, Lyssa is sold in her sleep to a purple-scaled alien shopping for the latest in A.I. technology. She’s forced to play the role of a companion android or be liquidated by a shady dealer to make room for new inventory. Terrold, Gareth, and Kahnnan have always insisted they were perfectly content without a mate. Secretly, each of them has longed for a female to be the queen of their hive. They are thrilled with their latest droid, until they discover their new bot is defective. It can't communicate, ignores every command, and behaves irrationally. Yet despite her faulty programming, they find themselves falling hard...for a machine. The moment they learn she can hear their mindvoices, they realize, to their horror, that they have purchased a living being. When a human sanctuary offers Lyssa a chance to leave, the triad must prove she's more than their purchase--she is their chosen mate to be cherished and protected. But if she can't forgive them for treating her as merchandise...they will lose her forever. A.I. Human is a steamy, why choose/reverse-harem sci-fi alien romance. It is a standalone in the interconnected Lietvia Galaxy universe. Alien romance Reverse harem/why choose MMMF, including MM Child-free Spice level: 4 of 5 Dubcon [Read More]

The Raven & the Lake, Book 1: Hoarfrost

by Rowan Ravenheart

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, paranormal

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THEY SAID FAERY NEEDED A KING. THEY LIED. For three years, Jesryn Hallows called survival peace. Hiding from a fractured past in the human world, she thought she had successfully severed the threads of a destiny meant to break her. But when Faery's ancient ley lines buckle, the deep places of the world remember her name—and the gods come calling. The Veil between worlds is failing, the ley lines are breaking and Faery is teetering on the edge of magical collapse. To save her world and her people, Jesryn must return to Arcadia and take up the mantle of the goddess she refused. But returning to Arcadia means facing the prince that nearly destroyed her. Owyn Corey, Regent Prince of the Lake, has spent three years searching for the woman who vanished without so much as a goodbye, spiraling into darkness and obsession. But Owyn is no longer the boy Jesryn loved. As old magic stirs and destiny closes its hand around them both, Jesryn must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice for a crown she never wanted—and a world that demands nothing less than her life. Perfect for readers who love: • Fated mates • Celtic-inspired fantasy • Gods and prophecy • Second-chance romance • Dark fae courts • Ancient magic and broken kingdoms • Slow-burn romantasy with epic stakes [Read More]

Javi: The Others

by Kari Wiethop

Tropes: slowburn, characterdriven, foundfamily

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Luxury, power, and intimacy. A voyeur discovers connection is the real risk. Javi Quintana didn’t come to the Mercer Estate to disappear into the shadows. He was hired to manage its memberships—the human side of an exclusive club conceived from discretion and desire. Trading his guest privileges for staff authority takes Javi inside the velvet-roped world where nothing is accidental. He doesn’t expect the sudden pull toward connection. It arrives in the form of Quinn, a brilliant and guarded administrator who belongs to this world in ways Javi never will. Built on restraint rather than impulse, their bond is a slow, magnetic draw neither of them anticipates. But it’s complicated by the powerful man who already holds a claim on her attention—their boss. As boundaries strain and feelings demand clarity, Javi learns that real intimacy requires more than patience. It requires risk. And in a world built on carefully negotiated control, choosing love may be the most dangerous act of all. A darkly intimate, slow-burn romance about confronting limits and risking heartbreak for something real. Perfect for readers who crave psychological depth as much as heat. [Read More]

Song of the Chintāmani: A Steamy Fake-Marriage Romance in Ancient India

by M. P. Gupta

Tropes: forcedproximity, adventure, foundfamily

She is the only scholar who can decode a murdered woman’s secret. He is the warrior ordered to keep her alive. Gupta-era India, 400 CE. Vachana Devagupta has spent her life studying the scattered fragments her mother died protecting. When the imperial court sends her in search of the sacred relic concealed within them, she is placed under the protection of Commander Aryaman—a disciplined warrior who trusts duty far more than desire. Their search carries them across river roads, temple archives, gilded courts, and deadly ambushes. To move unseen, they must pose as husband and wife. One room. One bed. A marriage built on a lie. But the danger is real—and so is the desire growing between them. Song of the Chintāmani is a steamy, open-door historical romance featuring a brilliant scholar heroine, a protective warrior hero, fake marriage, forced proximity, political intrigue, found family, and an ancient mystery powerful men will kill to control. Perfect for readers who enjoy lush historical settings, high-stakes adventure, intense romantic tension, and a love story unlike anything they have read before. [Read More]

Her Heart's Wish

by Dawn Baca

Tropes: slowburn, multipov, characterdriven

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Can a woman who built her life around everyone else finally choose love? Leila Durand has spent years being exactly who her family needed: a devoted mother, a doting grandmother, and the steady heart of the farm that saved her after loss. But when Yuri Petrova asks her to come to Saint Petersburg, the quiet life she has carefully built begins to feel less like safety and more like a beautiful cage. Yuri has always been a man of stars, students, and solitude—until one unforgettable Frenchwoman makes his orderly world feel suddenly incomplete. From their first meeting at a family wedding, Leila’s warmth, strength, and laughter unsettled him in ways no equation ever could. After three years of calls, letters, and longing, he is ready to stop loving her from a distance. Leila is falling for Yuri, but loving him means facing the grief, guilt, and fear she has buried beneath decades of devotion. Yuri is falling just as hard, but winning Leila’s heart may mean leaving behind the life, career, and country that have defined him. When distance, family ties, and old wounds threaten to keep them apart, Leila must decide whether being wanted is worth the risk of finally being seen. Will she cling to the life that made her feel necessary—or open her heart to the man who makes her feel chosen? Her Heart’s Wish is an emotional later-in-life romance about second chances, found family, healing after grief, and the brave, terrifying joy of beginning again. Perfect for readers who love mature heroines, patient heroes, slow-burn longing, complicated families, European settings, and love stories where the biggest battle is learning to believe happiness is still allowed. Read Her Heart’s Wish today and fall in love with a romance that proves it’s never too late to choose your own happily ever after. [Read More]