Posted December 18, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Trade, Harlequin/MIRA, NetGalley, Standalone, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments
When Shannon gets engaged, her beloved mom, Cindy, is the first person she wants to tell—and the last. Cindy’s engaged, too, and has already hinted at a double wedding. The image of a synchronized bouquet toss with her mom fills Shannon with horror. She’ll keep her engagement a secret until Cindy’s I-dos are done.
Victoria has never been proper enough for her mother, Ava, so she stopped trying. She lives on her own terms and amuses herself by pushing Ava’s buttons. Ava loves but doesn’t understand her stuntwoman daughter. When a movie-set mishap brings Victoria home, Ava longs to finally connect.
Chance brings the four women together at a wedding venue, where a shocking secret comes tumbling out. Twenty-four years ago, desperate teenager Cindy chose wealthy Ava to adopt her baby—then changed her mind at the very last second. The loss rocked Ava’s world, leaving her unable to open her heart to the daughter she did adopt, Victoria. As Shannon and Victoria deal with the fallout from the decisions their mothers made, they wrestle with whether who they are is different than who they might have become.
~Standalone~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 17, 2025 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Connection to another series, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Holiday Romance, Kindle Unlimited, NetGalley, Regency Romance, Time Slip Romance / 0 Comments
When grief threatens to steal her Christmas spirit forever, baker Freya Harris discovers that some houses hold more than just memories – they hold miracles.
After losing her beloved grandmother, Freya faces her first Christmas alone in their family home. So when a last-minute pastry commission takes her to the enchanting Hill House country estate, she expects nothing more than a few days of baking Regency-themed treats for a Twelfth Night ball the aristocratic owners are planning.
But Hill House has other plans. Between mysterious dreams of another time, a charming estate manager named Callum who makes her breath catch, and a scruffy terrier with an uncanny ability to appear at just the right moment, Freya finds herself caught between past and present in the most magical way. As snow falls outside and candles flicker in the grand ballroom, Freya discovers that sometimes, when we need it most, the past reaches out to guide us toward our future.
This title is related to the A Mandeville Mystery series; titles in that series include: A Time to Change ~ The Mandeville Secret ~ The Mandeville Shadow ~ The Mandeville Curse ~ (related) A Twelfth Night Miracle ~
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Posted December 17, 2025 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Afterglow, Holiday Romance, NetGalley, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance, Standalone / 0 Comments
Music was everything to professional soprano Charlie Ward…until her brother died, leaving her lost in grief. But when her beloved Gram moves into the Glendale Retirement Village, Charlie is cajoled into temporarily volunteering to direct the community’s new choir, their sights set on winning the Annual Christmas Choir Competition.
Only, the home’s activities director happens to be the super-cute guy she once spent a hot, hazy, sexy summer with. Julian Guerrero hasn’t forgotten Charlie Ward. Not even a little. Fortunately, he has his hands full with the lively residents who are determined to win, even if they must twerk their way to victory.
Amid mince tarts, gingerbread houses, and Christmas lights, Charlie and Julian must find a way to transform their quirky singing seniors into a sensation. It’ll take hard work. It’ll take heart. And it’ll take just enough holiday magic to surprise everyone…Charlie, most of all.
~Standalone~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 16, 2025 by Marsha in Choc Lit/Ruby Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, Kindle Unlimited, NetGalley, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
I hate Christmas.
I don’t know who thought every female must love shopping, wrapping, baking, and hosting, but I’m missing the memo. On top of that, I manage a top-end department store. Sprinkle in the fact I’ll be turning forty during this holiday season, and my life is a Christmas cookie recipe gone wrong.
And every year, I become a little more Scrooge-ish.
But the spirit of the most wonderful time of the year (insert sarcasm) seems to have a plan for me and my midlife crisis attitude.
First, my past returns when I attend a high school reunion happy hour and run into that boy—the one I had a summer fling with after graduation and before college—then promptly ghosted me.
The torture continues because that boy is now a man, worldly and wise and sexier than I remember. And he invites me to attend a holiday work party with him.
Which leads to my discovery that there is a lot more to this forty, fine, former NFL quarterback, now fireman, like being a single father to the sweetest little girl, putting me at risk of falling for both of them.
However, I have my reasons not to believe in love and the happiest time of the year. And the first twenty-five days of December test all my strength.
Just what the Dickens is happening? Charles himself might approve of this plot.
Even I’m a little curious to see how it all plays out.
Titles in the Holiday Hotties series include: Scrooge-ish ~ Naughty-ish ~ Grouch-ish ~ Elf-ish ~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 16, 2025 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, NetGalley, No Spice Romance, Small Town Romance, Standalone / 0 Comments
The Cotswolds village of Babblebrook is filled with the scent of hot chocolate and gingerbread this Christmas. Could love be in the air, too . . . ?
After leaving her cheating husband, Marnie needs a fresh start. With her thirteen-year-old daughter, Lauren, she moves back to her childhood village, Babblebrook. But her new neighbour, Andrew, might just be the rudest man Marnie has ever met. So why can’t she stop thinking about him . . . ?
Marnie throws herself into the local bakery, making mince pies and spiced buns to help her old friends Pat and Matt. She spends her days dreaming of turning the bakery into a cozy café that will be the heart of the village, and finds herself unexpectedly drawn to gruff Andrew and his kind, reliable nature.
But when some unexpected visitors arrive in Babblebrook, Marnie is confronted with a choice – stick to what she knows, and the person she’s always been, or start putting herself first.
Marnie has spent her whole life taking care of everyone else. Is she ready to fight for her café dream and admit that all she wants for Christmas is Andrew?
~Standalone~
This is a no-spice romance with either closed doors or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved 🙂
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Posted December 16, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, NetGalley, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
Welcome to the Highland Repair Shop, where mending broken things – be they clocks, compasses or hearts – is a way of life.
After a gruelling few years in city hospitals, trainee doctor Alice hopes a new, small-town post will bring quiet to her racing mind. Instead, she finds a place brimming with eccentricity and curiosity, and people who seem to see straight through her carefully controlled facade.
Murray has returned to his hometown with a broken heart and his tail between his legs. Volunteering at the family-run repair shop is meant to be temporary… until a chance encounter starts to crack his emotional armour.
Meanwhile, mountain ranger Finlay lives for solitude and the wild and rugged scenery. But when a broken compass draws him reluctantly into town life, he finds himself pulled not just into a community project, but into the kind of tangled feelings he’s spent a lifetime avoiding.
As a new garden is built and winter weather rages, lives will be patched, polished, and set on entirely new courses. Can these lonely hearts be mended and finally find happiness and love?
Titles in The Highland Repair Shop series include: Fixing a Broken Heart at the Highland Repair Shop ~ Mending Lost Dreams at the Highland Repair Shop ~ Making Sparks Fly at the Highland Repair Shop ~
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Posted December 15, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Trade, Modern Western Romance, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
A favor owed. An Off-limits romance. Four Corners is in for the hottest Christmas it’s ever seen.
Sheena Patrick has done well, all things considered. After her father’s death, she raised her sisters and did all she could to give them the best life possible. But they’re grown and gone now, and Sheena is ready to do something for herself. But to accomplish her goals, she needs Denver King.
Denver owes Sheena. He spent years watching from afar and making sure she was all right after his father’s illegal activities caused her father’s death. So when Sheena rolls up to the ranch looking to call in the favor he promised, Denver can’t say no. He’ll help her get her axe-throwing bar up and running by Christmas, and consider his debt square. But as the snow falls, sparks fly between the two black sheep of Pyrite Falls. They might be all wrong for everyone else, but are they just right for each other?
Titles in the Four Corners Ranch series include: Unbridled Cowboy* ~ Merry Christmas, Cowboy* ~ Cowboy Wild* ~ The Rough Rider* ~ The Holiday Heartbreaker* ~ The Troublemaker* ~ The Rival* ~ The Hometown Legend* ~ Hero for the Holidays* ~ The Outsider* ~ The Rogue* ~ Cowboy, It’s Cold Outside^ ~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 15, 2025 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Connection to another series, Holiday Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Small Town Romance, Standalone / 0 Comments
It’s Emmy Brewer’s tenth Christmas since she lost her mom, and without her, Emmy’s floundering. Her job is pointless, and she struggles to find direction and passion. So when her sister invites Emmy’s childhood crush and former neighbor, Charlie Russell, to their family Christmas, and he shows up, given her state, Emmy is anything but excited.
Their meeting sets off a string of events that bring them together once a year at Christmas. Through trying moments, laughter, and bad timing, Emmy must face her life’s choices and decide what she actually wants. Will it be Charlie? Or will he be the catalyst for something else entirely?
~Standalone~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 14, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance, Time Slip Romance, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments
The point of magic is not to understand it. The point is not to waste it…
Paige Larsen is riding high on her future when she drops into a bar on New Year’s Eve 2019 for a celebratory drink. Will Weber, too, is excited about his life’s direction. Despite clashing personalities—and unexpected physical attraction—they quickly become friends while grooving to 1970s music in this unique joint.
But when Paige and Will each try to find the bar the following day, they realize the night was even more magical than they believed. It seems this bar appears for only a handful of hours every two years in an abandoned city lot on December 31. What’s more, Paige and Will are living in different timelines two years apart.
Over a span of eight years and a multitude of life changes, Paige and Will connect deeply in a fantasy situation that allows them to be their messy, imperfect, vulnerable selves.
Then suddenly, the enchantment—and the bar—disappear for good. Can love offer the magic they need to create a real-life happy ever after?
Titles in the Any Time Now series include: Every Other New Year’s Eve ~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 14, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Kindle Unlimited, Modern Western Romance, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
I knew ranch life would be messy… but I didn’t expect it to personally attack me.
One minute I’m a newlywed trying to waddle my very pregnant self across our porch, and the next I’m watching my sexy cowboy husband argue with a tractor like it owes him money.
And somehow, between the broken fences, the weather, and Boone stealing every baby sock we own, Tanner Briggs and I are supposed to be building our happily‑ever-after at Rising Star Ranch.
He’s calm, collected, and unfairly gorgeous. I’m hormonal, sleep‑deprived, and absolutely not immune to the way he touches me in the bedroom.
Then the baby comes early. The barn roof gives up on life while revealing past secrets. And the whole town starts treating us like their favorite reality TV show.
I watch him holding our daughter, and it makes me fall for him all over again.
Then life throws a bigger curveball than either of us is ready for.
The scariest part of loving Tanner isn’t the chaos; it’s realizing how easily I could lose everything I’m fighting for.
Titles in the Ironwood Bluff Ranch series include: Rancher’s Unexpected Love ~ Rancher’s New Beginning ~
This story may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 13, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Connection to another series, Marietta, Marietta Montana, Modern Western Romance, Montana (Tule), Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments
Can they build a future with staying power?
Rodeo champion Rhett Foster walked away from Norah after one unforgettable evening last summer, vowing not to risk their friendship again. He’s parked his hat temporarily in Marietta to help his father recover from surgery, then he’s headed out to discover life after rodeo. But an emergency at Foster Construction lassos Rhett into wrangling renovations—and his feelings—on the Miles’ ranch.
Norah Miles is done putting her dreams on hold. With her family’s redesigned guest cabins nearly ready for tourists, she’s set her sights on Bozeman and a fresh start in interior design. But their magazine feature morphs into a high-stakes design contest, throwing Norah’s plans—and nerves—into chaos. To make matters worse, the only person who can help her finish the project on time is her younger brother’s best friend, the rugged cowboy she’s trying to forgive and forget.
As sawdust flies, Norah and Rhett can’t ignore the sparks igniting between them. Will they risk their hearts for a chance at love, or let fear ride them out of each other’s lives for good?
Titles in The Miles of Montana series include: Choosing the Montana Cowboy ~ The Cowboy’s Christmas Truce ~ The Rodeo Cowboy’s Redemption ~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
Release date: February 24, 2026
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Posted December 13, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
In the snowy mountains of Montana, widowed bladesmith Hart Amory guards his solitude like a treasure. Ten Christmases have passed since his wife’s death, leaving a hollow ache that echoes in the rhythm of his hammer on the anvil. With only Frank, his faithful furry friend, by his side, Hart endures each winter alone with his grief and pain.
But this year, a blizzard brings more than snow to his door. Five days before Christmas, Nessa, a spirited woman with eyes as bright as winter stars, and her teenage daughter Wren, become stranded when they travel up the mountain to interrupt Hart’s self-imposed exile with an impossible request: replicate the heirloom knife Wren’s late father gave her so she can take part in her family’s Christmas tradition.
Only Hart has the skill to pull off the miracle they need, but it means letting Nessa and Wren into his life. With each shared cup of cocoa, each whispered secret, and each smile cast his way, feeling returns to his frostbitten heart.
As Christmas grows nearer, Hart must make the choice between letting go of his grief and misery or letting go of Nessa and the hope she brings. Can he forge not just a knife, but a second chance at joy?
~Standalone~ (although some sites list this as the series: Beneath the Mistletoe #2)
This story may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 13, 2025 by Marsha in Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Kensington Books, Kindle Unlimited, Mystery, NetGalley, No Spice Romance, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
Small-town Wilfred, Oregon, is poised to step into the limelight, and the citizens behind the renovation of the old movie palace—into a brew pub—certainly want that to continue. Until librarian and apprentice witch Josie Way discovers a dead body . . .
Local librarian Josie Way’s life is in shambles. Her magical abilities are on the fritz, and her relationship with sexy sheriff Sam has cooled way off since she told him she’s a witch. On top of that, Josie senses a bad energy she can’t explain, which seems to be interrupting her connection with the spellbound library books, usually her sure-fire way to get to the bottom of any mystery.
When she wakes to a fierce pounding in the library’s atrium, she hurries there—only to find a corpse. But after she goes for the phone to call Sam, she returns to the atrium to find the body gone—and all the doors and windows are still locked. And that’s just the beginning of a mystery that features Josie as the prime suspect, several shady characters, and possible long-lost relatives. It’s just like the beginning of an old movie, but Josie will need a lot more direction than her grandmother’s magic lessons will provide . . .
Titles in the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries series include: Bait and Witch ~ Seven-Year Witch ~ Witch and Famous ~ Witch Upon a Star ~ Gone With the Witch ~ The Witch is Back ~ Witch and Tell ~
This is a no-spice romance/paranormal cozy mystery with either closed doors or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved 🙂
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Posted December 9, 2025 by Marsha in Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Cozy Mystery, Kensington Books, Kindle Unlimited, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
There’s no place like Salem, Massachusetts—aka “the witch city”—for Halloween. As residents embrace their historic heritage to celebrate the season, WICH-TV program director Lee Barrett is assigned the decadent task of highlighting the village’s delectable sweet shops—only to learn that some revelers prefer deadly tricks over delicious treats . . .
Casa del Chocolate is one of Salem’s most charming boutique candy shops, making it a perfect profile story. Although preoccupied with her own personal sweet news—Lee and her detective husband Pete Mondello are expecting a bundle of joy—she cheerfully agrees to interview the chocolatier. Since becoming pregnant, the radiant and exhilarated mother-to-be has discovered that she is finally free of the unwanted haunting “visions” she has endured since childhood.
Shirley Parker inherited Casa del Chocolate, housed in her beautiful ancestral home on the waterfront, continuing her family’s sweet tradition of conjuring magical treats for the folks of Salem. Mesmerized by the delightful chocolate-scented aromas filling the air while touring the kitchen, Lee is shocked when she stumbles upon the murdered body of Barney Bingham, Shirley’s estranged husband.
As the police focus their suspicions on Shirley, Lee learns that many people had reasons for wanting Barney dead. Now, with help from Pete, tarot reader River North, and clairvoyant gentleman cat O’Ryan, as well as some new feline friends, Lee must unmask the true killer—and cope with the sudden return of her troubling “visions”. . .
Titles in the Witch City Mystery series include: Caught Dead Handed ~ Tails, You Lose ~ Look Both Ways ~ Murder Go Round ~ Grave Errors ~ It Takes a Coven ~ Spells, Bats, and Murder ~ Final Exam ~ Late Check Out ~ Murder, Take Two ~ See Something ~ ‘Til Death ~ Now You See It ~ Death Scene ~ Sugar and Spite ~
This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.
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Posted December 9, 2025 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, Kindle Unlimited, No Spice Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments
Love, legacy, and one last Nantucket Christmas …
When Clara returns home for the holidays, she expects a Christmas filled with family traditions and the comforting scent of her parents’ Nantucket bakery, The Flour Jar. Instead, she discovers their beloved shop – an island institution – is facing eviction, and the man behind it is James Carlisle, heir to a powerful Boston real estate family.
But when she goes to confront the landlord in his island rental home and is trapped there by a blizzard in the midst of his extended family’s arrival for the holidays, confusion abounds.
Clara doesn’t know that James is carrying a secret concern of his own and is desperate to make this Christmas special.
As snowbound misunderstandings give way to late-night confessions by the fire, cosy hot chocolate and stolen glances, she glimpses the man hidden behind the Nantucket Grinch façade — one burdened with responsibilities he can’t escape.
And when the storm clears, Clara must find a way to protect her family’s legacy, without risking her heart on someone who could take it all away.
Titles in the Nantucket series include: Nantucket Summer ~ Nantucket Sunset ~ Nantucket Shores ~ Nantucket Christmas ~ Nantucket Wedding (February 2026) ~
This is a no-spice romance with either closed-door scenes or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved 🙂
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