Browse Romance ARCs

The Sniper and the Swan

by Halle Macpherson

Tropes: slowburn, firstperson, characterdriven

Five years ago, the mysterious masked musician known as Il Cigno vanished. Her disappearance has haunted him ever since. Matteo Rossi has two equally challenging roles: mercenary assassin and guardian to his boisterous thirteen-year-old niece, Alessandra. He knows how to track a target, take down a threat, and disappear without a trace. What he doesn't know how to handle is a teenager who has started breaking the rules—or the feisty music teacher who is encouraging her to do so. When Mia Mills built her new life as a music teacher in the Italian lakeside town of Lacustria, she had one rule: keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But Mia has never been the type to walk away from someone who needs her help. When her talented student Alessandra secretly applies for a prestigious music summer camp, Mia is determined to help her chase her dreams—even if it means going head-to-head with her overprotective guardian. Mia knows getting close to people only puts them in danger. But as she is drawn deeper into the Rossi household, she finds herself wrapped in the warmth of a family she never expected to become part of. With each day she spends there, she indulges in the most dangerous ideal of all: hope for the future. As Matteo and Mia try to resist the magnetic pull between them, the truths they are both hiding threaten to destroy everything they've built. Because some truths can set you free. And some can get you killed. [Read More]

Poison Apple: Snow White and the MC Beast

by Katlyn S. Coen

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, firstperson

Instant download

They call me fairy-tale beauty made flesh. But I’m just Annika. I’ve already buried one man I loved. I’m still haunted by the ghosts of my past. I have one rule: Nobody gets close to my son. Fate—or the Norse Gods—had other plans: Shove me on a pitch-black parking lot. Drop a six-foot-six Sons of Ragnarök patch-wearer—inked, ruthless, and fourteen years my senior. I’m frozen in terror. My fearless two-year-old with zero sense of danger? Both arms. Open wide. And the Beast takes my boy like he’s always belonged to him. “I’m Ronny ‘Leif’ Reinhardt, and I rule the Sons of Ragnarök with absolute power. Protection money? I call it insurance premium. A broken arm? Just business. Innocence has never been my weakness. Until a tiny redhead barrels into my life and the beast in me finally meets its match. The feeling is foreign, dangerous, and fuckin’ addictive. I’m everywhere now. Watching. Guarding.” Guarding? And why is he smirking? And calling our encounters “coincidence”? My head calls him obsessed. My body is obsessed. With him. Starts sending SOS. But the most terrifying part? He doesn’t rip my clothes off. He looks me in the eyes and asks, “May I?” — There’s no going back. The poison apple is already bitten. ONE BITE, and you’ll be stuck in Germany’s industrial wasteland where the darkness hits harder—not for lack of light, but because hope, love, and beauty only increase the level of destruction. A dark, twisted Snow White retelling × outlaw biker romance. ONE BITE, Snow White… and the Beast never lets you go. Five books. One arc. This is where the found family saga begins. This is book one of five — a slow burn that starts gentle and builds. Come for the Golden Retriever moments, stay for the abyss that follows. [Read More]

Bonds of Shame, Bonds of Lust

by Jordyn Haart

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, forbiddenlove

Dr. Lacey Bonds is a good girl. Smart, sweet, and modest. She also has a secret so dark she hides it even from herself. When she catches her husband with two of his university students, her marriage is shattered and she has a second chance to find out what she really wants. To her surprise, it’s a craving completely at odds with her repressive upbringing. Guided by the beautiful young guitarist Ricardo and her hedonistic best friend Janice, Lacey enters the world of the notorious Second Circle Social Club determined to experience everything she’s denied herself. Unbeknownst to Lacey, Derek Harrington, chairman of her hospital board, widower and father to her favorite patient, has been watching her transformation with increasing interest. But the gruff, former Special Forces officer, has a secret of his own… As Lacey uncovers the dark source of her obsession, her carefully organized world starts to unravel, and she risks losing everything important to her. Through it all, Lacey knows Derek is the last man who can be allowed to see what she's become. But he’s the only one she wants to show. Bonds of Shame, Bonds of Lust is the first book in this super spicy dark contemporary romance duology. [Read More]

The Rival Hearts

by Anne Nikolaiken

Tropes: forcedproximity, firstperson, dualpov

Instant download

A steamy Married in Vegas Formula One romance featuring Rivals to Lovers. The race weekend plan didn’t include waking up married to the rival rookie driver. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Ethan Ethan St-Pierre is used to living in his brother’s shadow, but now he has no other option but to shine on the racetrack...and keep the St-Pierre legacy alive. Sharing his rookie season with his biggest rival shouldn’t be that difficult. They only have to interact on racetracks–and that’s plenty, thank you very much–but now sponsors are suggesting joint photoshoots with Maggie. Their rivalry is fuelling sales, sparks are flying, and Ethan wonders if there’s something more behind their shared, sizzling glances captured in photographs. Maggie Maggie Hoffsommer is the first female race car driver with a chance to win the Drivers’ Championship and prove her critics wrong. Her surprise debut at Kestrel Racing caused a media frenzy; her repeated pole positions and podium finishes created turmoil in the paddock, but the greatest shock is the one Maggie experiences when she wakes up married to Ethan St-Pierre in Vegas… and he suggests they give it a go? He’s the steamy distraction on track, putting everything she’s worked for in jeopardy. How can she consider staying married to him? This season, they have nothing left to lose but their hearts. Will Maggie and Ethan’s competitiveness put what they desire most at risk? This is a high-octane contemporary sports romance filled with open-door spice, swoon-worthy moments, and a guaranteed happily ever after. The Rival Hearts is book #2 in The Racing Line series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, and do not need to be read in order to be enjoyed. [Read More]

Carve Me Golden

by Mara J. Ova

Tropes: forcedproximity, firstperson, characterdriven

Trapped alone with your ultimate daydream crush while a storm rages around you… do you dare take the chance? Forced proximity · She’s also an athlete · Celebrity athlete and his fan · European alpine settings · High‑stakes sport · Overcoming traumatic past · Exotic settings and fresh sports After seven years with a toxic ex, Czech language teacher Zlata knows a new relationship is the last thing she needs. She’s finally thrown herself into ski racing, the real kind, with after-hours training and no rewards but the rush. But a girl is allowed to dream… and sometimes, dreams come true. A broken gondola. A violent storm. And Fabio Baier, her untouchable, world-famous ski racing crush, close enough to feel, to touch, to make her feel alive, if only for an hour. This was never supposed to be real. But when fantasy collides with reality, it doesn’t come softly. It burns. Because Fabio isn’t just every woman’s dream. He has demons of his own to outrun. And until they both face their pasts, all they have is craving. Carve Me Golden is a standalone in the Carve series, a high-heat sports romance filled with forced proximity, emotional scars, explosive chemistry, and a compelling couple who know that love must be earned. If you crave intense attraction, high-stakes passion, and a fantasy that refuses to stay just a fantasy, this book is for you. [Read More]

His Little Witness

by Kindra Cress

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, firstperson

Instant download

He was sent to make me disappear. He wasn't supposed to want me for himself. I recorded a murder. One shake video, one VIP room I should never have served, one man who looked straight into my phone and smiled, and now the most powerful men in the city want me erased before sunrise. Then he found me first. Silas doesn't ask. He doesn't comfort. He shows up like a blade in a tailored shirt and tells me I have ten seconds to choose: walk away and die, or come with him and lose every piece of the life I used to have. Cold-blooded, ruthlessly efficient, and absolutely not allowed to touch me, he's the man Blackwater sends when there's nothing left to save. But he touches me anyway.. Every safehouse gets burned. Every alias gets cracked. Someone inside his own organization is feeding me to the wolves, and Silas just promised he'd torch Blackwater to the ground before he let them take me. God help me, because I want to watch him do it. A dark, possessive, slow-burn romantic suspense for readers who like their heroes lethal, their heroines sharp-tongued, and their tension thick enough to cut. Forced proximity. One bed (eventually). A man who was supposed to be untouchable until he met her. HIS LITTLE WITNESS is Book 1 in the Blackwater series. Reader note:Steamy, explicit, and intense. Contains on-page violence, themes of stalking and surveillance, and a hero whose protective instincts run very, very dark. [Read More]

Claimed by Ruin

by Sara McClaflin

Tropes: slowburn, forbiddenlove, characterdriven

Instant download

As a medical examiner in New Orleans, I know death. I know how it looks, how it smells, how it lingers. This isn’t it. Bodies that should be fresh are weeks gone. Others refuse to rot at all. The same impossible pattern ties them together, and everyone is too quick to blame the local cult. They’re wrong. Then Caelum Brandt appears—where he shouldn’t be, answering questions no one else can, moving through the city cloaked in darkness and danger. Like he is invincible. The moment he touches me, something burns into my skin—a mark I can’t explain and can’t hide. He sees it. Smiles like it means everything. He calls himself the Horseman of Conquest. And whatever is coming next… has already chosen me. CLAIMED BY RUIN is a dark enemies to lovers, possessive anti-hero, murder mystery, fated mates romantasy set in the same universe as The Devil’s Bargain series, perfect for fans of dangerous heroes, supernatural romance, and high stakes, tension filled relationships. Please note: Claimed by Ruin is an adult paranormal romantasy that contains darker themes, violence, explicit sexual content, and mature subject matter. A full list of content warnings is available through the Content Warnings link. Bound to the End is a romantasy series set in the world of The Devil’s Bargain. [Read More]

Bonds of Shame, Bonds of Lust

by Jordyn Haart

Tropes: slowburn, forcedproximity, forbiddenlove

Dr. Lacey Bonds is a good girl. Smart, sweet, and modest. She also has a secret so dark she hides it even from herself. When she catches her husband with two of his university students, her marriage is shattered and she has a second chance to find out what she really wants. To her surprise, it’s a craving completely at odds with her repressive upbringing. Guided by the beautiful young guitarist Ricardo and her hedonistic best friend Janice, Lacey enters the world of the notorious Second Circle Social Club determined to experience everything she’s denied herself. Unbeknownst to Lacey, Derek Harrington, chairman of her hospital board, widower and father to her favorite patient, has been watching her transformation with increasing interest. But the gruff, former Special Forces officer, has a secret of his own… As Lacey uncovers the dark source of her obsession, her carefully organized world starts to unravel, and she risks losing everything important to her. Through it all, Lacey knows Derek is the last man who can be allowed to see what she's become. But he’s the only one she wants to show. Bonds of Shame, Bonds of Lust is the first book in this super spicy dark contemporary romance duology. [Read More]

The Sniper and the Swan

by Halle Macpherson

Tropes: slowburn, firstperson, characterdriven

Five years ago, the mysterious masked musician known as Il Cigno vanished. Her disappearance has haunted him ever since. Matteo Rossi has two equally challenging roles: mercenary assassin and guardian to his boisterous thirteen-year-old niece, Alessandra. He knows how to track a target, take down a threat, and disappear without a trace. What he doesn't know how to handle is a teenager who has started breaking the rules—or the feisty music teacher who is encouraging her to do so. When Mia Mills built her new life as a music teacher in the Italian lakeside town of Lacustria, she had one rule: keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But Mia has never been the type to walk away from someone who needs her help. When her talented student Alessandra secretly applies for a prestigious music summer camp, Mia is determined to help her chase her dreams—even if it means going head-to-head with her overprotective guardian. Mia knows getting close to people only puts them in danger. But as she is drawn deeper into the Rossi household, she finds herself wrapped in the warmth of a family she never expected to become part of. With each day she spends there, she indulges in the most dangerous ideal of all: hope for the future. As Matteo and Mia try to resist the magnetic pull between them, the truths they are both hiding threaten to destroy everything they've built. Because some truths can set you free. And some can get you killed. [Read More]

The Roman Prince of Chaos: A Spicy Slow-Burn Italian Football Romance

by Mara J. Ova

Tropes: slowburn, firstperson, characterdriven

He’s every woman’s dream. I’m just scared of what happens when I wake up. Alessandro Moretti is the most dangerous striker in Italy, a Golden Ball winner, and the Sexiest Man Alive. Watching him on screen has been my guilty pleasure for more than ten years. Then he became the face of my Baroque restoration campaign, said some stupid things about Baroque that I couldn’t let stand, and I corrected him. In front of a hundred people. It became a meme on Instagram. Now he wants me to teach him history—officially, so he doesn’t make an idiot of himself again. But I know why he suddenly pretends to admire Roman architecture. He wants me. On the pitch, Alessandro is hungry, aggressive, and used to taking what he wants. Off it, he’s a master seducer who knows exactly how to make a woman feel like she’s the only person in the room. But I mean to resist him, no matter how my pulse quickens when I feel his warmth. Because Alessandro Moretti loves the chase, and I refuse to become just another conquest. Except he says this isn’t about conquering me. He says he wants me. All of me. And he wants to make me happy. How am I supposed to believe that a man who has had a roster of supermodels on his arm could truly want a curvy scholar with limited time in Rome? And even if he does, the whole world will be watching, ready to decide whether I’m worthy of him. I’ve spent years building my professional reputation. I will not risk it for one charming, adorable footballer. Even if the most wanted man in Italy seems determined to prove that, for once, he isn’t playing to win. He’s playing for keeps. The Roman Prince of Chaos is a slow-burn, spicy sports romance packed with hilarious banter, irresistible pursuit, and electric chemistry, all against the beauty and chaos of Rome. Because Rome has been messing with young lovers since the beginning of time. Take a look inside and discover what happens when a legendary striker finally meets the one woman he can’t simply win. [Read More]