THE UNRAVELING, a chilling, sizzling and addictive thriller from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Vi Keeland, is available now!

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This isn’t a love story.

It’s a story about obsession…

This isn’t a love story.

It’s a story about obsession.

You’ll assume you know who the object of the obsession is.

The psychiatrist concealing the twisted connection she has to her patient.

Or maybe her patient isn’t as innocent as he seems.

But more than one person hides a secret.

To what lengths will desire and grief drive a person?

Stop guessing. Let the mystery unravel.

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Narrated by Courtney Patterson & Aiden Snow

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EXCERPT:

I pull off a glove to pick up the paper cup and let the warmth seep in through my skin as I scan the room for an open table. There’s only one, near the front of the shop, looking outside. It gives me something to focus on, at least. People swarm the sidewalks, tourists gaping up at the tall buildings with shopping bags in hands and locals grumbling as they’re forced to weave through them. Hundreds of people come and go in only minutes. It’s a sea of ambiguity, face after face after face, until they all start to blur.

But then . . . there’s a flash of familiarity. A face I know in the crowd.

I lean forward, ignoring the table digging into my ribs as I stare at the man. My hand comes to my chest when recognition turns to dismay. And my heart gallops off wildly.

It can’t be him.

Can it?

Olive skin, dark beard, lean build. He smiles—lips curled up as he talks into his phone. Then laughter, the sort that rocks his whole chest as he tilts his head up, smiling at the sky. This man wouldn’t laugh—couldn’t laugh. After all, he’s been through worse than I have.

I squeeze my cup too hard and coffee sloshes over the edges, scalding my hand. Pain radiates across my skin, and I look down at my pink flesh.

It feels good. The sting floods me with an odd sense of relief.

It’s not a normal response. I’ll probably spend hours overanalyzing it at some point. But right now . . . my attention is back to the window. He’s way more interesting.

I’m out of my chair, dumping my barely touched coffee into the nearest garbage, and through the jangling door in seconds. The man strides down the sidewalk, walking between gaps in pedestrians, making it easy to track him. Easy to—I jolt forward—follow him.

It’s akin to following a ghost.

Except he’s not the one who died.

They are.

We are stuck here. In limbo.

Me. And him.

Gabriel Wright. The last time I saw him, I felt almost exactly as I do now. Numb. Distant. Unbelieving. That night.

About Vi Keeland:

BENEATH THE DESERT SUN, a new adult romance from New York Times Bestselling Author, Kaylee Ryan, and USA Today Bestselling Author, Lacey Black, is coming July 30th! Check out this gorgeous cover!

Title:  BENEATH THE DESERT SUN
Series:  NEVER TOO FAR (#2)
Author:  KAYLEE RYAN & LACEY BLACK
Genre:  CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Cover Design:  THE BOOK COVER BOUTIQUE
Release Date:  JULY 30, 2024

Faith

Graduating from college is bittersweet. I’ve accomplished my dreams, obtained my teaching degree, and am ready to find my dream job. However, I never realized how difficult or stressful it would be to find a position.

That’s why I jump at the chance to visit Chad, one of my best friends, on base in California.

It was meant to be two weeks of catching up and putting all thoughts of job hunting out of my mind. Little did I know those two weeks would change my life and alter the course we were both on.

Chad

The day she agrees to join me in California is one of the happiest days of my life. Having her with me gives me the taste of home I’ve been craving, but deep down, it’s more than that. She’s important to me, more than just my friend, and my closest friend’s twin sister.

Spending my nights with her has done nothing but reinforce this feeling I get when I’m with her. I know we said we’d keep things light, but she’s making it so damn hard not to want more.

Then I get stationed overseas. Everything changes in the blink of an eye, and I’m not just talking about our jobs or the fact we’re suddenly thousands of miles apart. Call it fate or destiny or just pure luck, but it’s beneath the desert sun that finally our future becomes clear.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Kaylee Ryan:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan has been crowned the Queen of Swoon by her readers. With nearly fifty romance books under her belt, she’s known for penning happily ever afters with heart. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand or hanging out with her family where she resides in her home state of Ohio.

Connect with Kaylee:

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Lacey Black:

Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading and writing. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and three rowdy chickens.

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SO THIS IS WAR, a new age-gap, roomies-to-lovers, forbidden workplace/hockey romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Meghan Quinn, is out now!

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I would give up anything to claim her as mine–too bad she’s my coach’s daughter…

Did I think I was going to fall for my coach’s daughter?

The answer would be no.

I’m still unclear on how I got into this predicament in the first place. A year ago, I was a man with one thought on his mind, the redhead I met at a hotel bar. Twelve months later, I found her.

Unfortunately for me, she not only happens to be my very off-limits coach’s daughter, but also . . . my new assistant and roommate.

I don’t even need an assistant, but Coach Wood doesn’t take no for an answer. Add in him writing up tasks for his daughter, Wylie, to complete for me? Well, it’s his own form of sweet torture. We are talking tasks that I would never ask her to do.

Tasks that make her despise me.

Hate me.

That make her utter four words that cause a shiver to crawl up my spine . . . Posey, this is war.

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Full-cast narration featuring Teddy Hamilton, Emma Wilder, Jason Clarke, Connor Crais, Vanessa Edwin, JF Harding, Stella Hunter, Erin Mallon and Kelsey Navarro-Foster 

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“…an irresistible romance filled with heart, humor, and heat.” ~Danielle, Red Cheeks Reads

Check out Danielle’s 5 SMOOCHES review!

EXCERPT:

She crosses one beautiful leg over the other and casually says, “Well, I saw it in the cafeteria, and I thought it was up for grabs. I made myself a few sandwiches. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was yours.”

The world stands still as I blink a few times, my brain catching up with her words, processing them, sitting deep in the wrinkles of my cranium, stirring and festering . . . and dipping me right into a frenzied tailspin as my ears boil and my pulse pounds through my veins.

She can’t be . . .

No.

There’s no way.

“Hold on . . .” I take a deep breath, trying to make sure my voice doesn’t come out shaky. “You . . . you like bologna sandwiches?”

“Love them,” she answers with a smile.

Holy.

Mother.

This is the worst-case scenario out of all scenarios.

This can’t be the world I’m living in.

No, this is a nightmare. Someone punch me. Poke me. Hit me across the face with my hockey stick.

Pull me away from this disaster I’m living because, holy crap, the girl of my absolute dreams, the one that’s been persistent in my mind for a year, the girl who could do no wrong, she likes bologna.

No, not like . . . loves.

LOVES!

Actual tears spring to my eyes as panic races through me.

I’m going to lose it. I have two choices, I can claim her as mine, right here, right now—possibly while she eats a bologna sandwich—or just run.

Run as far away as I can run.

I choose the latter.

“Excuse me,” I say as I bow my head in dismissal and sprint down the hallway straight to my bedroom, where I slam the door and fling myself onto the bed.

I grab my pillow, bury my head against it, and scream again, muffling myself better this time.

After a few kicks to the mattress, punches, and “why mes,” I snatch my phone from the nightstand and pull up a text thread.

Can’t do this alone. Nope.

Need help.

Now.

Because . . . she likes bologna.

She loves it.

I’ve never met another soul who likes bologna. And lo and behold, the woman of my dreams has been stealing my beloved deli meat right from under me.

About Meghan Quinn:

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram  |  TikTok  |  Twitter  |  Amazon  |  BookBub  |  Goodreads

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Text READ to 474747 and never miss a new release from Meghan!

SO THIS IS WAR, a new forbidden workplace sports romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Meghan Quinn, is out now!

I would give up anything to claim her as mine–too bad she’s my coach’s daughter…

Did I think I was going to fall for my coach’s daughter?

The answer would be no.

I’m still unclear on how I got into this predicament in the first place. A year ago, I was a man with one thought on his mind, the redhead I met at a hotel bar. Twelve months later, I found her.

Unfortunately for me, she not only happens to be my very off-limits coach’s daughter, but also . . . my new assistant and roommate.

I don’t even need an assistant, but Coach Wood doesn’t take no for an answer. Add in him writing up tasks for his daughter, Wylie, to complete for me? Well, it’s his own form of sweet torture. We are talking tasks that I would never ask her to do.

Tasks that make her despise me.

Hate me.

That make her utter four words that cause a shiver to crawl up my spine . . . Posey, this is war.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

Amazon  |  Paperback  |  Audiobook

Full-cast narration featuring Teddy Hamilton, Emma Wilder, Jason Clarke, Connor Crais, Vanessa Edwin, JF Harding, Stella Hunter, Erin Mallon and Kelsey Navarro-Foster 

Add to Goodreads

THE UNRAVELING, a chilling, sizzling and addictive thriller from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Vi Keeland, is coming July 9th!

Scroll down for a sneak peek!

To what lengths will desire and grief drive a person?

This isn’t a love story.

It’s a story about obsession.

You’ll assume you know who the object of the obsession is.

The psychiatrist concealing the twisted connection she has to her patient.

Or maybe her patient isn’t as innocent as he seems.

But more than one person hides a secret.

To what lengths will desire and grief drive a person?

Stop guessing. Let the mystery unravel.

————————————————————-

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

Amazon  |  Apple Books  |  B&N  |  UK Links  |  Kobo  |  Hard Cover Edition  |  Audible

Narrated by Courtney Patterson & Aiden Snow

Add to Goodreads

EXCERPT:

CHAPTER 1

We used to look at each other like that. Before you went and messed everything up.

The man wraps a scarf around the smiling woman’s neck, then leans in and kisses the tip of her nose. I force my eyes from the store window and keep walking. Maybe another mile will do it—will clear my head so I can think properly. Figure out what to do with the rest of my day. The rest of my life.

Another block, then two. I stop behind a dozen people at the crosswalk. A woman checks the time on her phone, a child sways under the weight of his backpack full of books, a businessman in a five-thousand-dollar suit spews into his phone about some deal gone bad.

He’s angry. Probably needs therapy. Most of us do. Myself included.

Myself especially.

A teenage girl smokes a joint as she bops along to the buds in her ears. A twentysomething wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt pretends he’s not freezing his ass off.

One thing stands out that makes them different from me—they all seem to have somewhere to go.

Then again, I probably look like I do, too. I’m good at pretending these days, aren’t I?

But soon they’ll be home with their families or their dog or their video game, and I’ll still be out here walking. Searching for something, though I don’t know what. I still have my wits enough to know that means I might never find it.

Maybe I should get a dog. That would at least give me a purpose for all this walking. Of course, I’d have to feed it. Drag myself out of bed early every morning to take it outside so it doesn’t ruin the carpets. Give it love and affection.

I swallow a lump in my throat. I’m not capable of committing to any of those things. Especially the last one.

Click HERE to finish reading Chapter 1!

About Vi Keeland:

SO THIS IS WAR, a new forbidden workplace sports romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Meghan Quinn, releases June 25th, and I’ve got a sneak peek!

I would give up anything to claim her as mine–too bad she’s my coach’s daughter…

Did I think I was going to fall for my coach’s daughter?

The answer would be no.

I’m still unclear on how I got into this predicament in the first place. A year ago, I was a man with one thought on his mind, the redhead I met at a hotel bar. Twelve months later, I found her.

Unfortunately for me, she not only happens to be my very off-limits coach’s daughter, but also . . . my new assistant and roommate.

I don’t even need an assistant, but Coach Wood doesn’t take no for an answer. Add in him writing up tasks for his daughter, Wylie, to complete for me? Well, it’s his own form of sweet torture. We are talking tasks that I would never ask her to do.

Tasks that make her despise me.

Hate me.

That make her utter four words that cause a shiver to crawl up my spine . . . Posey, this is war.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

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EXCERPT:

**LEVI**

“I want him off my fucking team. Now!”

My testicles shrivel into dust as Coach Wood screams at Andie Lintour, the general manager for the Vancouver Agitators.

Spittle flies off his lip.

Eyebrows are slanted like knives, ready to strike.

And the veins in his neck protrude, making me question if it will be his hands that choke me or the scary, pulsing veins.

“Will, we can’t—”

“He was fucking my daughter! We can do whatever the hell I say.”

Did you wince? Because I did.

I know what you’re thinking. Posey, you’re about to lose your life at the hands of your fuming, spitting, hulking-out coach. And your assessment of the situation is a fair and accurate one.

Because yes, I’ve never felt closer to death than at this moment right now.

To bring you up to speed, yes, I was fucking his daughter.

Yes, it was in the locker room.

Yes, it was out in the open where anyone could walk in.

Was it stupid? Absolutely.

Have I lost my mind? One hundred percent.

Do I have any defense? Not one.

Nope, this was pure stupidity. This was a move by a desperate man brought to his knees.

A weak man.

A man with no morals.

A man infatuated with a woman he can’t control himself around.

“I understand the circumstances,” Andie says in her calming voice, “but we can’t get rid of a player because he was having relations with your daughter. Posey is one of the best defensemen in the entire league.” If I wasn’t so terrified, I’d puff my chest. “He’s under a no-trade clause. Even if we wanted to get rid of him, we couldn’t.”

I’m not sure if I should be grateful for that clause because, at the moment, it wouldn’t hurt to at least escape the darkness of death clouding Coach Wood’s expression.

“Then he’s benched,” Wood says as he looks me in the eyes, nostrils flaring. “Did you hear that, you bologna-loving motherfucker? You’re benched.”

I swallow deeply as I dig my fingertips into the armrests of my chair. Not sure why he had to drag the bologna into this, but I don’t bother asking as the vein in his bald head looks like it’s maxed out on stress. “I, uh, yes, I heard you the first time,” I say, causing him to grow angrier.

“Once again, Will, I don’t believe we can do that. We pay him a lot of money—”

“We do.” Will paces his office, and every time he goes near me, my ass clenches in anticipation of a ninja knife hand right to my trachea. “We pay him plenty of money, so why don’t we just put him on the injured list, say he has a sore toe, and then he can figure out with his agent what he’s doing for next year because he sure as fuck won’t be playing on my ice.”

Now, is Coach Wood being a touch extreme? Some might say yes without any context because who really wants to bench their starting defenseman? It’s not the smartest move as a coach, but the man has a good reason.

And sure, I shouldn’t be taking his side. I should be defending myself and the ability to have sexual relations with anyone I damn well please, but here’s the thing . . . the situation runs a little deeper than what you see on the surface.

It’s more complicated.

I didn’t just fuck some random girl on an arbitrary day in our locker room.

The coach’s daughter was riding me, completely naked, in the middle of the locker room after he struck a deal with me to hire his daughter as my assistant to teach her a lesson.

And before you even ask, no, the lesson was not on the science of how the penis meets the vagina.

It was a tough lesson about life.

So yeah, this really is on me.

**Raises hand** Yup, I take the blame.

Guilty.

The only question is, how the hell am I going to get around this? From the way he spoke so cruelly of my precious bologna, I don’t think offering him a daily sandwich—made by yours truly—is going to mend the severed ties we’ve created.

Nope, this will take a monumental, epic proposal of apologies, especially if I want to stay on this team. Which I do. My boys are here. My life is here.

She’s here . . .

Which means I need a plan.

But I swore I wouldn’t get them involved.

I said over and over again that I wouldn’t use their idiotic advice or poorly constructed ideas, but I think desperate times call for desperate measures.

It’s time to call on the Frozen Fellas.

About Meghan Quinn:

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram  |  TikTok  |  Twitter  |  Amazon  |  BookBub  |  Goodreads

Sign up for her mailing list to stay up-to-date with Meghan!

Text READ to 474747 and never miss a new release from Meghan!

TIME FOR CHANGE, an opposites attract, age-gap, single dad small town romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Lacey Black, is available now!

It may come down to an impossible decision: my kids or the woman I want to spend my life with…

Stevie

There’s nothing more liberating than picking up your life and relocating. I needed a fresh start, desperately looking to get away from my past. Stewart Grove is such a cute small town and seems like the perfect place to settle. Add in the fact I got a job serving at the popular Burgers and Brew restaurant, and everything seems to be clicking into place.

Then single dad Jack Harper sat down at one of my tables and turned my world upside down.

I wasn’t expecting to meet a man so quickly after moving, let alone one ten years my senior, but there’s no denying the instant connection. The problem is, I carry a secret. One that could destroy this new life I’m creating.

I just pray it all doesn’t blow up in my face.

Jack

Weekends are spent with my kids. As a local electrician and business owner, I don’t exactly work your typical nine-to-five job. Add in co-parenting with my ex-wife, and there isn’t a lot of free time for myself. Dates have always been an afterthought, especially when the few I’ve been on didn’t go well. I’m content with just being Dad, making sure my kids always come first.

Then I met her.

Stevie Clement is completely unexpected in the best sort of way, and I find myself drawn to her like I’ve never experienced. I want all of her time, in my life and in my bed.

However, it may come down to an impossible decision: my kids or the woman I want to spend my life with.

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“…heartwarming and beautifully written…” ~Danielle, Red Cheeks Reads

Check out Danielle’s 5 SMOOCHES review!

About Lacey Black:

USA Today Bestselling Author Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and three rowdy chickens.

Connect with Lacey:

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THE WOMAN BY THE LAKE, a suspenseful new enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract, forced proximity small-town romantic thriller from New York Times Bestselling Author, Kristen Ashley, is available now!

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Nadia Williams needs somewhere peaceful to sort through her grief after her mother is brutally murdered. She finds a cozy cabin at the side of a tranquil lake in the quaint town of Misted Pines in the Pacific Northwest.

The minute she arrives, she knows it’s perfect.

The very night of her arrival, however, someone—or something—is scratching at her window.

The next morning, she meets her one and only neighbor, Doc Riggs. He’s a rough, good-time guy who rubs Nadia wrong immediately. They clash, and neither of them are happy to be sharing their lake.

But soon, Nadia learns the lore around her cabin, and how the townsfolk are certain it’s haunted by the ghost of the man who was murdered there fifteen years before.

Riggs and Nadia are suddenly thrown into a tangled web of history, betrayal, grief, secrets, with only one thing certain.

Someone—or something—wants them off that lake.

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“An enthralling and unforgettable romantic thriller… completely captivating and utterly addictive…” ~Danielle, Red Cheeks Reads

Check out Danielle’s 5 SMOOCHES review!

EXCERPT:

Sweat slicked body, covered only by a pair of cutoff jean shorts, and running shoes on his feet (sans socks—I mean, who ran in jean shorts and shoes with no socks?).

His dark hair was too long. Not long-long, like lumbersexual long, but the wet curls not only hugged the sides of his face, but also all around his neck. His all-over-tanned body was fit and buff—ankles to neck lean, defined muscle. He sported chest hair, fuller between his bulging pecs, a smattering from collarbone down to everywhere, a dense line leading down the center of his six-pack and into his shorts.

And he had a masculine face hewn by a loving hand. Strong nose. Hollowed cheeks. Prominent brow. Square jaw covered in dark scruff.

Gazing at him, I felt a stirring, the power of which I hadn’t felt in seven years.

In fact, considering it had been seven years, that stirring felt more powerful than any I’d ever had before in my life.

His head turned to me as he ran into the clearing. He stopped, put his hands on his hips, that gorgeous chest rising and falling with his quickened breaths. He started walking toward me, and he smiled.

A slash of perfect, white teeth made a normally extraordinary visage deliciously criminal.

“Hey,” he called.

The sound of his deep voice shook me out of my stupor, and I replied, “You’re in my yard.”

He stopped walking and his head swiveled slightly on his neck, shifting a bit to the side, his ear dipping toward his perfectly muscled shoulder.

“Sorry?” he asked.

“You’re in my yard,” I repeated.

He looked down at his beat-up running shoes, then again to me.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Run through it every morning a few times when I’m home.”

The when I’m home bit was intriguing.

I refused to be intrigued.

“Well, I live here now and”—I swung my coffee cup out—“as you can see, I’ll be taking my coffee on the back veranda in the mornings. So from here on in, if you’d refrain.”

His lips were quirking as he asked, “The veranda?”

I swung my coffee cup again. “The back porch.”

“I know what a veranda is,” he shared. “Just don’t know anyone who’d call it that when it’s attached to a shack in the woods.”

I was offended, not only on my behalf, since I now lived there, but on Dave and Brenda’s. They clearly put a lot of work into this place and kept it in tip-top shape.

“This isn’t a shack,” I refuted with some heat. “It’s a cabin.”

“Same thing.”

“Hardly.”

He pointed toward the south but didn’t take his eyes off me when he proclaimed, “It takes me five seconds to run through your yard.”

His inflection on yard was not at all missed.

Sure, it wasn’t a yard, per se, but instead, a big patch of dirt with a healthy scattering of trees that ended in a lake.

It was still my yard.

“I’m Doc,” he introduced himself, taking another step forward, clearly not of Dave’s bent to keep his distance so I, a woman alone in the wilderness, would feel safe. He was now only maybe ten feet away.

And I knew with no doubt I couldn’t outrun him, and I definitely couldn’t overpower him.

That muscle.

Lord.

And this was Doc, my helpful neighbor who was going to teach me how to use the generator.

Fabulous.

“The next part is you telling me who you are,” he prompted when I made no reply.

“I’m a woman who functions a lot better after she’s enjoyed two solitary cups of coffee.” I lifted my cup. “This is cup number one, and I’m not halfway done.”

This amused him, greatly, and I knew that because the smile he gave me was bigger, wider and whiter than the last one.

That stirring came back.

Terrific.

“I’ll be quiet when I do it,” he assured. “And I won’t bother you.”

“You won’t run through my yard,” I returned.

“You won’t even know I’ve come and gone,” he told me. The Woman by the Lake Teaser Chapters

I had a feeling every heterosexual woman in a hundred-mile radius knew when he’d come and gone, certainly if he ran in cutoff shorts through her yard, so I wasn’t buying it.

“I won’t because you won’t be running through my yard,” I retorted.

“It isn’t a big deal,” he said, and he still sounded amused, not like he was getting annoyed, which made this whole conversation worse than if he’d stop being a man, listen to me and do as I requested without an irritating conversation.

“Is there a reason I’m repeating myself?” I demanded.

He dropped his head and lifted his hand to me. A hand, not incidentally, that was big, had long fingers, looked strong, and I could see even at this distance, was calloused from work. But he didn’t do this to hide him losing his temper.

It was to hide his laughter, something he failed at doing, since those powerful shoulders were shaking with it.

Who was this guy?

No.

Nope.

I didn’t want to know.

I arranged my face in another scowl, which only made him bite back a bark of laughter when he lifted his head and saw it.

Obviously, this made my scowl scowlier.

“You don’t want me running through your yard, you got it,” he acquiesced (finally!). “I won’t run through your yard.”

I nearly said thank you, but decided against it, because I shouldn’t have to thank him for not doing something he shouldn’t be doing in the first place.

I didn’t run.

But I did know, if you did, you ran on roads.

You ran on sidewalks.

You ran on public trails.

You didn’t run through people’s yards.

When no one lived there, okay (sort of).

But I lived there now, so…not okay (definitely).

Therefore, I just stared at him. The Woman by the Lake Teaser Chapters

He didn’t hide his hilarity (though it wasn’t vocal) when he said, “Nice to meet you Solitary Coffee Lady.”

I did nothing but raise my brows.

His hilarity became audible with his chuckle, which was as rough and attractive as the rest of him.

He then turned, ran through my yard, and disappeared in the pines.

Ugh.

Whatever.

I sipped my coffee.

Stared at the lake.

Put that conversation behind me.

And felt the crushing weight of a year in the pines with nothing real to do, except the impossible, settle on top of me.

The sun was shining, glinting off the peaceful waters of a lake that was a good twenty yards away.

And still, I felt like I was drowning.

©2023 Kristen Ashley

About Kristen Ashley:

Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over eighty romance novels. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold millions of books.

Kristen, born in Gary and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana and was a fourth-generation graduate of Purdue University. Since, she has lived in Denver, the West Country of England, and she now resides in Phoenix. She worked as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent publishing career. She now writes full-time.

Although romance is her genre, the prevailing themes running through all of Kristen’s novels are friendship, family and a strong sisterhood. To this end, and as a way to thank her readers for their support, Kristen has created the Rock Chick Nation, a series of programs that are designed to give back to her readers and promote a strong female community. You can learn more about Kristen and the Rock Chick Nation on her website.

Connect with Kristen:

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