September Book Haul

I know I have been saying that I don’t need any more books on my kindle because I have enough to last me a lifetime. Being surrounded by bookish content makes it tricky when you are trying not to add to your TBR, but I have managed so far. Sadly, when books are free and interesting, I can’t seem to resist, so when a bunch of authors made their books free, I went shopping and here is what I got.

Amazon Blurb:

Star football player, Jack Miller, had it all. The perfect family, looks, girls hanging on his every word, and the respect of most people in his town. But one thing was missing—a man to be his own.

When Andrew Collins showed up in small town, conservative Sweet, Georgia, he looked more scrawny mutt than high school senior. Andrew’s plan was to keep his head down and graduate high school, leaving his family behind to start his real life.

When he meets Andrew, Jack thinks he has found heaven, but reality holds him in check until one night when his lips gently slide across Andrew’s mouth and fireworks go off.

As lust and something a little deeper brings them together, compelling them to take chances, people start to notice. Then the unthinkable happens, and Jack’s parents find out he likes guys. The battle lines are drawn, and his parents vow to pray the gay away.

Amazon Blurb;

Thanks to a drunken boast about my relationship status, this ugly duckling needs to find three people to fake date in time for my best friend’s celebrity wedding. One trip to the office later, and I have my recruits:

Leo – PA extraordinaire, friend, & fashion guru. How was I supposed to know he has a crush on me?
Elodie – My new intern. The dreamer. Also, prospective crazy cat lady. She made a mistake once, now she’s determined to prove her screenwriting mettle.
And Jet – The repair man. The wild card. The enigma who makes my heart boom, boom, boom.

We each of us have our own reasons for playing along, some more obvious than others. Now all we have to do is make our polyamorous quadouple convincing. Heartache is not on the agenda. After all, none of it’s supposed to be real…

Amazon Blurb:

If love at first sight is a fantasy, why does what they have feel so right?

For the past few years Otto Proulx has been hiding in the shadows, living vicariously through others. Maybe it’s time for a change?

Greg Trainor runs a kite shop and helps his friends out when they need it; that’s the kind of guy he is. When he sees a car stuck on the side of the road he stops to help, never expecting to see the stranger again.

One night of passion leads to…several more and suddenly both men are searching around to define what they have together. Neither wants to scare the other off and neither wants to ask for more.

Otto’s out of his comfort zone and Greg has family issues; but love has its own rules and sometimes you just have to trust it will find a way.

Amazon Blurb:

For Howie, the lonely barista, he longed for the dream life.

Husband, house with a white picket fence, 2.5 kids and a dog. Sadly, all he could get were meaningless one night stands leaving him feeling…empty.

Jackson Milsap, the introverted writer, quietly pined for Howie from the corner of the café. Stepping outside of his comfort zone and asking him out on a date sent his social anxiety into overdrive. That was until the day he came to Howie’s rescue, forever changing both their lives.

Amazon Blurb:

When you’re on the run from the mob, the last thing you should do is fall in love…

Indy’s become an expert at surviving.
He’s survived being a mobster’s lover.
He’s survived a brutal attack on his life.
He’s survived being on the run, on his own, his heart firmly closed.
After all, who could want him?

Until he meets former army medic Noah and his friends-with-benefits Josh.

Noah and Josh take him into their home after Indy gets hurt, and he discovers they’re as broken and damaged as he is. Indy finds himself opening up to them, first with his body, then with his heart.

But how can he stay when his very presence endangers them? His ex will stop at nothing to find him…

Amazon blurb:

Jude: Reaching the top of the country music charts brings out the crazy, and there’s no one crazier than my ex. Unfortunately, his threats to out me are escalating. Enter the bodyguard of my dreams.

I’d probably chafe under his constant presence if his attention to my body wasn’t so… ah… thorough. Now I have to worry about outing myself to millions of fans if I can’t keep my hands off him in public.

Derek: Now I’m an ex-Marine turned babysitter. If I have to hear Jude sing his mega-hit Bluebells one more time, I might murder him myself, and after 6 years in special ops, I know my way around a weapon. Unfortunately, so does he. Except his arsenal includes washboard abs and a killer set of pipes.

I’ve faced guns, knives, explosives and yet it’s Jude Marian who may end up bringing me to my knees.

Fair warning: Jude and Derek’s story contains frequent detailed scenes of man parts touching, little old ladies being inappropriate, and two lonely hearts coming together in perfect harmony.

Amazon Blurb:

Robert Harper has spent the past seventeen years living for his son. He doesn’t know who he is if he’s not being a caregiver and protector all rolled into one.

Niall Ross is finally ready to make a life of his own. After years spent making sure his younger brother had everything he needed, it’s time for Niall to discover who he is.

All it takes is one glance across a crowded meeting room for the men to feel a connection, but Robert is terrified his life is too complicated for the other man. Luckily, Niall has patience in abundance. With a little help from Robert’s meddling family, the two begin a tentative relationship.

Just as they’re finding their footing, all of Robert’s worst fears come to life and he falters under the pressure. Niall takes the challenge to show Robert that he’s a safe place to lean on, but when his own life begins to unravel, he places his heart in Robert’s hands. When two independent men are forced to trust each other will the love win out, or will vulnerability and fear cause them to lose the best thing they didn’t even know they had.

Amazon Blurb:

The entire Dubrovsky family heads to snowy Russia for a family Christmas. Brennen fears Dmitri’s homophobic father’s rejection. Dmitri believes when they present their daughter, that all will be forgiven, but steps into a mess upon arriving with his husband. Instead of greeting Dmitri and Brennen with hugs and kisses, Grandma Dubrovsky whisks baby Dominika away, leaving them alone with Dmitri’s angry father. Can they stay if it means abiding by his rules?

This is a story of love, forgiveness, and miracles during the holiday season. Dmitri and Brennen overcome issues which have been troubling their relationship, each growing and learning how to best be what the other needs. There are many surprises during the holiday season for all of them.

Amazon Blurb:

Sometimes the brightest stars need to come home…

Henry Bright has a picture-perfect life as a rising star in the country rock scene—fortune, fame, and more lovers than he can shake a stick at. But something is missing. The glitz of Nashville is nothing more than glitter and tinfoil. Searching for authenticity in his life, he completes his DVM in veterinary medicine and returns to Wyoming. He takes a job as a vet at the Triple Star Ranch, hoping to find meaning and connection. He just didn’t expect to find love.

Trip Colton’s wife died over thirty years ago and he figured that was it for love. But the moment he meets Henry, he can’t get the younger man off his mind. The problem is, he’s never been attracted to a man before and the realization throws him for a loop. Dating is hard at any age, but Trip’s out of practice and wooing a man is completely different than wooing a woman.

When Henry’s former manager, Jordie, tracks him to Wyoming and begs the star to come back to the music biz, tensions damage the fragile connection between Henry and Trip. Jordie will do anything to convince Henry to return, even playing on his prejudices and hinting at Trip’s infidelity. But when the bank keeps calling with alerts on Henry’s accounts, he suspects there’s more going on with Jordie than a simple comeback music tour. Ultimately, Henry must choose where his heart lies, and who to trust, before he loses more than his chance at love.

Amazon Blurb:

Christian Braga is mostly retired from the adult entertainment industry. He’s had his heyday and he’s not interested in revisiting it. That is, until some dude named Sebastian Silvestri shows up at the gym where he’s a now personal trainer.

Having grown up jerking off to Christian’s videos, Sebastian is starstruck when he meets his idol. In his eyes, Christian is a legend, and the reason Sebastian became a performer himself.

When Sebastian works up the courage to ask Christian for a collaboration, Christian is reluctant to dive back into the industry. But the more he gets to know Sebastian, the less he can resist. Their first scene together is explosive and soon they realize their one taste of each other isn’t nearly enough…

Amazon Blurb:

Capture is a soldier’s worst fear, but all his training couldn’t prepare Sergeant Josh Rayne for what it meant to be caught by the alien invaders, who have claimed the desert.

Josh believes he is the only man left alive from the teams sent out to spy on the aliens, but in the alien prison, he is reunited with his lover and fellow soldier Xavier Fisher. There is no time to celebrate though as Xavier is gravely injured and in need of medical care.

With the exfil date fast approaching, they have to escape before the ship leaves without them.

Amazon Blurb:

Melanie has spent her entire life working her way up in the world. By day, she studies at law school, and by night, she serves drinks at an exclusive club to afford her tuition. But Melanie will never admit her true desire: to escape from her fast-paced, high-pressure life, if only for a moment.

When Melanie meets Vanessa, a glamorous executive and a regular at the club, she is drawn to the enigmatic raven-haired woman. Vanessa is relentless in pursuing what she wants—and what she wants is Melanie. Soon, Melanie is caught up in Vanessa’s sensual games of submission.

Melanie insists that their affair remain purely physical. But as her limits are tested, so is the line between lust and love. When ghosts from the past reappear, both women must face their deepest fears.

Can Melanie surrender her everything to Vanessa, or will old wounds prove too great?

Amazon Blurb:

Libraries are meant for studying – not sex

College sophomore Ethan never says what’s on his mind and never wants to rock the boat. After a high school social life spent anonymous and alone, things are finally falling into place for him. He’s found a group of friends just as studious as he, and is on track for a promising legal career. Out in the open, things couldn’t be better, but secretly Ethan yearns for some real excitement in his life.

He finds it in cocky fratboy Greg, who challenges every rigid, preconceived notion Ethan lives by. Soon, their sparring relationship turns sexual, and these enemies-with-benefits get their freak on all over campus. Yet the more Ethan comes out of his shell, the more Greg retreats into his, working overtime to keep his ladies man public persona intact. As the sex gets hotter, and they get closer to getting caught, one part of their arrangement can’t stay hidden any longer: love.

Amazon Blurb:

Can a chance encounter help two lost souls find love?

Kit Macken is used to not being wanted. Slightly strange and a little odd, Kit believes he’s more likely to find gold than someone who loves him. Until a chance encounter brings him face to face with a man who knows what it’s like to suddenly be alone; footballer, Hugo Serin.

Fresh off a painful divorce and an even more painful broken leg, Hugo feels like he’s lost everything. Isolated and drifting, Hugo isn’t expecting a rom-com style meet-cute any time soon. But he hadn’t counted on meeting Kit, who might just be the walking ray of sunshine Hugo needs to break through the clouds surrounding him.

When a freak accident leaves Kit’s house uninhabitable, Hugo opens his home, and his heart, to the man whose charming eccentricity makes him feel things he’d long forgotten. All he has to do now is convince Kit he’s worthy of love, just the way he is.

Amazon blurb:

One hidden crush.
One bunch of plastic mistletoe.
One alcohol-fueled kiss.
One set of taillights as Max Martino left town.

Sixteen years later…

Sam Addison hates change, and his company’s new merger is stretching him to his limit. When Sam finds out an older, hotter, and amazingly talented Max Martino is part of the acquisition, he knows the only way to protect his heart is to avoid Max—and their history—at any cost.

Max never planned to settle down, but recently he’s been pining for roots. A new job, a new city, and a second chance with Sam makes the thought of staying in one place exciting for the first time ever.
But the harder Max pushes, the farther Sam runs, sometimes literally, and Max begins to wonder if Sam can ever let go of the biggest mistake Max ever made—leaving.

But maybe a second chance at forever is as simple as holding the door open for love.

Amazon Blurb:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall… who is fairest of them all?

Everyone says Luma has the world at her fingertips. Her trust fund can buy anything she wants, there’s a modeling agency courting her, and most people would kill for her life – especially her stepmother, Tabitha.

When Tabitha comes home mangled from a botched cosmetic procedure and finds out Luma’s been offered a prestigious gig, jealousy rears its aging, puffy head. Tabitha wants Luma dead and she’s got no choice but to flee. Alone and cut off from her resources, Luma’s last refuge is a remote cottage where she prays Tabitha won’t find her.

Charlie is the newest addition to her family’s lumberjack business in the forest, whittling away her emotions as she works through a broken heart. Beauty really is skin deep because no woman can look past the birthmark on her forehead. Charlie is ready to forget about love… until she finds Luma asleep in her bed. She’s in danger, vulnerable, and also the most beautiful woman Charlie has ever seen.

When the lumberjacks take Luma under their protection, she finds more than just safety. She finds Charlie and a new purpose in the forest – until Tabitha comes back to finish her kill.

Amazon Blurb:

If I didn’t know better, I’d think my life is a fairytale.

Orphan? Check.
Evil stepmom? Check.
The only problem with my theory is the lack of a dashing prince coming to my rescue.

That is until Xander comes along. He’s charming, gorgeous, and caring. With him my life doesn’t feel like a neverending list of chores.
After my stepmother does the unthinkable, my only hope is winning a publishing competition. But when I find who Xander really is, even that becomes a lost cause.

Midnight Ash is a sweet romance with a sexy kinky twist on the side, and a cast who don’t quite behave as you’d expect.

Amazon Blurb:

Liam didn’t come to the library to check out a book.

The local librarian, Davis, is six foot eight and built like he can lift a truck. He leads Liam to a secluded place in the back of the stacks where they succumb to their intense chemistry.

Liam makes the stuck-up, prudish librarian completely fall apart when he gets on his knees. Soon the librarian is gripping Liam’s hair as he pushes forward, struggling to keep his voice down as he takes what he needs.

But it’s not enough, Liam wants to get slammed in the stacks. The danger of getting caught is only more of a turn-on. Soon Liam’s bent over a bookshelf, begging the librarian to finish what he started.

There’s a rumor that Liam’s magic and sleeping with him will solve your problems. He clarifies, “But only if you make it really, really, good.” Davis pushes up his glasses and gets to work.

Amazon Blurb:

It takes a Navy SEAL’s training to keep them alive, but when the mystery on the mountain is solved, will Viktor and Aiden’s love story survive the fallout?

Viktor left small-town Vermont to become a Navy SEAL and had no intention of tying himself down or falling in love. A succession of men and women share his bed, passion and danger are his addictions, and he’s the first of his team to run headlong into trouble. When his nephew witnesses a murder, Viktor returns home to protect his family and lands in the middle of an active case led by none other than the man he left behind. He can handle getting punched out by Aiden, but teaming up with the sheriff to find a killer is not on the cards. For Viktor, love is dangerous, makes a man vulnerable, and one mistake could get Aiden killed.

Aiden never expected to find lasting love with a decorated active SEAL, but he didn’t expect Viktor would leave his bed never to return. Even two years later, disappointment simmers below the surface, and he never wants to see Viktor again. But, when seemingly unrelated deaths draw Viktor back home, Aiden has to find a way for them to work together despite their past. With Viktor’s training and Aiden’s local knowledge, they partner to work the case, but Aiden isn’t just fighting the bad guys and mother nature; he’s falling in love with a man who will surely leave him again.

What links the string of deaths in the Green Mountains? Can hate and distrust turn back to love? And if they make it down from the mountain alive, can Aiden persuade Viktor he has a reason to stop running?

Amazon Blurb:

Would you marry a woman you hate for a life-changing inheritance?

Monica’s business has been hit hard by a global recession, her ex-girlfriend is selling the house out from under her, and the hot handy ma’am, Ray, who was hired to fix up the place, turns out to be the most annoying woman on the planet. Could things get any worse?

All Ray wants is to finish her job and say adios to the world’s most high-maintenance client. But after being mistaken for Monica’s girlfriend, how can Ray walk away when going along with the charade would grant an old lady her dying wish? It’s not like Ray intended to be so charming that Monica’s grandmother would rewrite her will.

Now the unlikely couple stands to inherit a vineyard in rural New England and a heap of cash large enough to change both their lives. The only hitch? They have to get hitched.

And since Monica is a professional wedding blogger, they’ll have to make it the wedding of the century while convincing two million followers they’re madly in love. No problem, aside from the simple fact that they can’t stand each other. There’s a good chance the whole thing could end in disaster, but is it possible these enemies might find true love along the way?

Amazon Blurb:

Gus Mead’s heart was broken somewhere over Ohio on his way to Vermont. Moving with a dream to transform a run-down train depot into a bookstore with his online boyfriend, he discovered that Sam wasn’t real… or even a man. But when he hits it off with the sexy carpenter he hired for the remodel, he thinks he might be about to start a new romantic chapter.

James Boyer is between jobs and lovers. And he may have found the solution to both his problems when sparks ignite with the handsome new owner.

Unable to resist falling for the hot carpenter, Gus still can’t imagine how anyone so gorgeous would want to be with him. And James knows his client is everything he wants, but he’s terrified he’ll move too fast and drive the wounded bookseller away.

A weekend getaway for books, a nude man, and miscommunication may be what they need to build a relationship based on humor, honesty, and hardbacks.

Amazon Blurb:

Is it really wrong to want to murder your boss?

Dylan has worked for Gabe for two years. Two long years of sarcastic comments. Two long years of insults, and having to redo the coffee pot four times in the mornings to meet his exacting standards.

Not surprisingly he has devoted a lot of time to increasingly inventive ways to murder Gabe. From stabbing him with a cake fork, to garrotting him with his expensive tie, Dylan has thought of everything.

However, a chance encounter opens his eyes to the attraction that has always lain between them, concealed by the layers of antipathy. There are only two problems – Gabe is still a bastard, and he makes wedding planners look like hardened pessimists.

But what happens when Dylan starts to see the real Gabe? What happens when he starts to fall in love with the warm, wary man that he sees glimpses of as the days pass?

Because Gabe is still the same commitment shy, cold man that he’s always been, or is he? Has Dylan had the same effect on Gabe, and has his solid gold rule of no commitment finally been broken? With his heart taken Dylan desperately needs to know, but will he get hurt trying to find the answers?

Amazon Blurb:

A last chance at swimming gold, a second chance at lasting love.

Team captain.
Olympic medalist.
Devoted son and brother.
Alex has it all, and all the demands that go with being the best.
The last thing he needs on his crowded plate—and on his team—is his closeted ex.

Dane is swimming’s biggest star.
Carefully crafted from crib to pool, his fame feeds his celebrity parents’ empire.
He dropped the act once—the summer he fell in love with Alex.
Ten years later, the performance is crushing his soul.
So is resisting the man he still loves.

As the team struggles to gel, Alex and Dane clash in and out of the pool.
Forgive and forget is easier said than done.
But something has to give, if Alex and Dane want a shot at gold.
And a second chance at love.

Amazon Blurb:

Ever felt like the last item on left on the clearance rack?

As a successful patent attorney, Ashley Stockingdale has all the makings of a perfect catch; the looks, the brains, even a convertible. But at 31, she’s beginning to wonder if she’s been passed over for good.

Deciding to adopt a new attitude, Ashley suddenly comes the romantic interest of three men within a matter of days. While her heart enjoys turning the tables on the dating game, the rest of her previously predictable world is being turned upside down. Is it more than Ashley can handle? Or is it exactly what she wants?

Amazon Blurb:

It’s all fun and games until my best friend starts dating someone who isn’t me.

This story starts when my best friend, Tanner, takes “having a girlfriend” to “completely ignoring me” fast enough to give me whiplash.

Making matters worse while I’m recovering from said whiplash, some guy in leather ruins my life—by stealing my parking spot in front of my favorite bookstore.

Making matters unbelievable, Leather Motorcycle Man is the new editor where I work, my new boss, and the only thing now standing between me and being able to publish my book.

Talk about bad luck.

I hate him; he can’t stand me; my sister won’t stop believing this is our Enemies to Lovers, Sweet and Sassy, Small-town Romance, seventy thousand words, confirmed HEA.

Trust me, I loathe saying it, but…if this guy keeps sneaking himself into the heart Tanner is vacating, my sister might just be right.

Cyprian Douglas—affectionately, Shiane—makes me want more than seventy thousand words. If he can promise me a never-ending series, I might forgive him for taking my parking spot.

If he can’t?

I’ll never forgive him for taking my heart…

I wonder why most books have shirtless men on the cover.

Alex