grumpysunshine

Seasons of War

by Lindsay French

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, forbiddenlove

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Dark Dystopian Romance Sergeant Zayne Riven was born to take his father's place as the emperor's right hand man, but he has plans of his own. Trapped inside the corrupt regime he wishes to dismantle, Zayne plays loyal war hero while secretly fighting both sides of the war. He is determined to rise to the top and destroy the emperor, even if it means destroying his soul along the way. That is until one political prisoner shatters all of his plans. The emperor has captured the rebel woman Zayne once secretly saved. The woman he could never stop thinking about. And now Zayne has been ordered to break her spirit and use her to crush the uprising. Kira Stiles is a true revolutionary. She papers alleyways with forbidden news and hijacks the emperor's magi-tech to write messages of rebellion across the sky. And she would die a thousand deaths before helping the emperor destroy the rebels. Captivity will not break her, not even at the hands of the grumpy and brooding Sergeant Riven. But as her imprisonment stretches on, Kira begins to suspect that the infamous war hero Zayne Riven may not the heartless loyalist he seems. He may secretly be as dangerous to the emperor as she is. Zayne faces an impossible choice. Her life or the fate of the entire rebellion. [Read More]

The Carpenter's Second Chance

by Dan Leonard

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, foundfamily

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When Ellie Marsh returns to Laurel Ridge to renovate and sell her late grandmother's cottage, falling in love is not part of the plan. Single dad Nate Calloway has spent years keeping his world small: his daughter, his work, and the town he's always called home. But as they work side by side to restore the cottage, Ellie finds herself falling for more than the town she left behind. She finds herself caring about a guarded carpenter and the thoughtful little girl who's spent years wishing for someone to braid her hair. Now, with summer drawing to a close, and difficult choices ahead, Nate and Ellie must decide whether protecting their hearts is worth losing the home, family, and future they've unexpectedly found. A heartwarming small-town romance filled with second chances, found family, slow-burn romance, and a happily-ever-after. [Read More]

Illumination

by Jane Arro

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, forbiddenlove

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He was never leaving his mountain. She was never staying. FBI Special Agent Mason Quade has spent eleven years learning to read the North Carolina high country he calls home. He knows every trail, every hollow, and every quiet person who lives there. He does not know what to do when Washington sends him Dr. Kyla West. A forensic entomologist with a fortress built out of nine years and one careful rule, Kyla has come to figure out why a hundred thousand synchronous fireflies have vanished from a cove that had been full of them a year before. Neither the case nor the woman is what Mason expects, and neither of them is prepared for what happens when their reserved professionalism gives way, night by night, in a two-cot yurt above a dying cove. But something darker than a missing insect population is moving in the mountains around them. And when the case turns from ecology to a foreign operation with reach into their own ground, the careful line Mason and Kyla have been holding will not be enough to keep either of them safe. A literary romantic suspense set in the ancient forests of the southern Appalachians, Illumination is a slow-burn love story about being seen for the first time, and about what a person will risk to keep someone whole. [Read More]

The Second Chance Summer

by Rose Graceling-Moore

Tropes: enemiestolovers, steamycontemporary, grumpysunshine

Anabel Newsome spent ten years on her dream career. It took one email to destroy it, and now she is willing to do anything to get it back. Even work with Luca, the grumpy-but-gorgeous painter who broke her heart ten years ago. The plan is simple: Agree to a three-month leave of absence for the “burnout” she swears she doesn’t have. Return to the sunshine-soaked coast of Italy, find her supposed bliss, and convince her boss she’s ready to come back to work. What isn’t in the plan is discovering that the hostel she loved in her twenties is falling apart. Maybe it’s because that’s something she and the building have in common, or maybe it’s just because she’s incapable of taking a break, but Ana is determined to save it. And Luca, as the hostel handyman, is going to help. Whether he likes it or not! Between renovations that go sideways, a new summer fling that complicates things, and a decade-old wound she never quite let heal, Ana’s carefully planned trip is quickly going off the rails. But the beach vacation she never wanted might just be her second chance to make the right choice. [Read More]

The Alpha's Healer: Rebirth and Revelation

by Marina Belle

Tropes: forcedproximity, forbiddenlove, paranormal

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Lucia survived the Wilds. Now she has to survive the beast who bled for her—and the truth of what she is. Separated from the Blackwood Pack, and from Kaelen, the Alpha who swore to protect her but kept her in a gilded cage, Lucia is stranded on the edge of the human world. Her only protector is Ragnar. The pack’s Enforcer is brutal, possessive, and dangerously intoxicating—and he has no intention of coddling a fragile human. He wants to teach her how to bite back. But as care turns into something darker, something territorial, Lucia is pulled into a war she doesn’t understand. The Wilds are waking. The creatures are calling her my lady. Her power is changing. And so is she. Because the truth of Lucia’s bloodline won’t just change her… it will tear the shifter world apart. Caught between the Alpha who holds her heart and the beast who demands her soul, Lucia must decide who she is willing to become. Because to survive what’s coming, the healer must die— and something far more dangerous must rise in her place. ------------------------------------- Series: Book II of III (continues into final installment/ cliffhanger) Genre: Dark Paranormal Shifter Romance / Dark Fantasy Tropes: Dark psychological love triangle • Fated mates (twist) • “Who did this to you?” Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (light–medium, high-heat moments, intense intimacy) Darkness: Medium — this is a dark PNR Content Warnings: Attempted SA • Graphic violence • Blood/gore • Injury detail (animal/shifter attacks) • Pregnancy struggles/infant loss POV: Alternating third person (Lucia, Kaelen, Ragnar) Vibe: Dark, gothic, wintery For readers who love monster heroes and heroines who embrace their darkness [Read More]

Hellebore Fields: A Dark Academia Hockey Romance

by Rivkah Plume

Tropes: darkromance, newadult, grumpysunshine

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He says I'm his light. But loving him feels like drowning in shadows. At UC Wisteria, I'm supposed to be chasing my future: books, scholarship, and a life I've fought tooth and nail to earn. But instead, I'm being chased by Branwen Atthill, the campus hockey star with sharp edges, hidden scars, and ice-blue eyes that track my every move like I belong to him. When his obsession transforms into something that looks like love, I fall headfirst into the dark fairytale I always craved—until I start losing myself in its twisted pages. Branwen is dangerous. Possessive. Beautiful in ways that make me forget to breathe. When the violence starts, I convince myself I can fix him. That if I love him hard enough, my light will chase away his darkness. But as secrets unravel and the campus grows more dangerous, I'm forced to confront the question I've been too terrified to ask: if I survive loving him, will I still recognize the girl I was before he consumed me? He's everything I was warned about, and the only boy I've ever wanted to burn for. Trigger Warning & Tropes: Contemporary, Dark Romance, Erotic Thriller, Dark Academia, Hockey Romance, Stalker, Grumpy/Sunshine, Dubious Consent, Possessive, Tortured Past, Rags-to-Riches, Murder [Read More]