Week of September 24, 2018
Ms. Romance, Hannah Arden, writes one of the top read relationship advice columns in the nation. Mr. Reality, Brooks North, writes the top read relationship advice column.
Ms. Romance believes in true love and soul mates. Mr. Reality believes love is a term humanity has assigned to the primal instinct to procreate. She believes in fateโhe in chance. She knows thereโs one right person for everyoneโhe knows there are multiple ones. The two writers couldnโt be more polarized on relationships. Theyโre professional rivals, and philosophical antagonists.
For eight years, their battles have been fought with words and ink. That changes when they apply for the same position at the World Times and find themselves face-to-face for the first time. Brooks isnโt the sour-faced, antiquity of a man Hannah pictured. And Hannah isnโt exactly the middle-aged shrew with cat hair on her housedress that Brooks imagined either.
In lieu of competing for the promotion traditional ways, the two writers are presented with playing the leading roles in a social experiment unlike any before. Can a person be tricked into falling in love? Can a relationship be crafted under the right string of circumstances? Hannah knows the answer. So does Brooks.
Agreeing to the terms, the two set out on a three-month dating experiment, live-streamed for the world to watch. All Hannah has to do to win is not fall in love with the narcissistic brute. All Brooks has to do is get the starry-eyed dreamer to fall in love with him. Both are so confident in their philosophies, they expect the challenge to be easy.
With the world watching, Brooks and Hannah will be forced to confront their beliefs and conclude, once and for all, whoโs right. The answer is one neither of them saw coming.
Itโs Naomi Clemonsโs big day. Her dream wedding. And sheโs outta here.
One moment. A chance meeting of gazes through the church window pane with someone familiar who radiates intrigue. Independence. Itโs the final push Naomi needs to realize…sheโs boring. A blonde, cookie cutter, well mannered trophy wife-to-be. How can she expect to lead a fulfilling married life when sheโs never lived?
Special Forces diver Jason Bristow needs a beauty pageant coach. Not for himselfโalthough the tattooed bruiser could definitely use some charm. For his little sister who he has returned to St. Augustine, Florida to raise. When a beautiful southern debutante lands on his doorstep, she awakens a hunger that wonโt be ignored. If only she wasnโt planning on winning back the ex-fiancรฉ she left at the altarโฆ
Despite the potential for ruin, heat continues to build between Naomi and Jason beneath the sultry Florida sunshine, consuming them both. But theyโre on borrowed timeโฆand itโs about to run out.
The only thing more hilarious than the movies isโฆ real life?! Fall in love with the hot new romantic comedy series from USA Today bestselling author, Lila Monroe!
Stylist Gemma Jones is competing for a once-in-a-lifetime promotion. All she has to do is take some fashion-backward guy from geek to GQ-worthy. The only problem? The man in question is her hairy manwhore of a next-door neighbor. AKA Bigfoot.
Zach Morrison has zero interest in being Gemmaโs makeover mannequin. Sure, itโs fun getting his smart-mouthed neighbor all riled up, but after cashing out of his tech start-up and going through an ugly break-up, heโs taking a permanent vacation. If he wants to wear sweatpants and sleep on a mattress in the corner of an empty apartmentโ
OK. Maybe he needs a little push in the right direction. But as Gemma races the clock to win her bet, she finds that Bigfootโs been hiding a few things under his baggy flannel shirts. Like abs of steel, and a surprisingly big…
Heart. He has a big heart.
Soon, sparks are flying between this unlikely couple, but can Zach embrace a fresh start – however manscaped it might be? And will Gemma beat out her Instabitch rival for the top spot – and keep the truth about their bet from Zach?
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Which is a real problem when the attraction runs red-hot.
Trust me. I know. The only reason I decided to renovate my familyโs ice-cream store was to serve up a sundae full of revenge for my a-hole ex who opened an ice-cream store right next to mine.
It was supposed to be simple.
Renovate. Reopen. Put his peachy butt out of business.
Until he decided to get under my skinโand broke my toe.
Now, Iโm stuck with Chase in my store every day, helping me renovate. But heโs also in my head, and Iโm spending a little too much time up against his abs.
Not that itโs the worst place to be.
But it doesnโt change anything. I still hate him, and Iโm still going to get my revenge.
Right?
Who needs mistletoe?
Most people wouldnโt think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isnโt most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies sheโs been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows thatโbut Molly just wants to enjoy being aย littleย naughty for once . . .
Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds donโt mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time heโs shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Mollyโs brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas canโt believe heโs drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, whoโs the hottest, smartest, strongest woman heโs ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers heโs been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.
The second book in the #1 internationally bestselling Joona Linna series,ย The Nightmareย finds Joona teaming up with a national security agent to find the link between two mysterious, seemingly unrelated deaths.
One summer night, police discover the lifeless body of a young woman on an abandoned yacht. She appears to have drowned, but it’s clear she was never in the water. The next day, a man is found hanging in his completely empty apartment. It seems like a suicide, but the circumstances are suspicious.
Detective Joona Linna is called in to investigate, and, with the help of a young Swedish Security Police detective named Saga Bauer, he soon discovers a surprising connection between the two deaths. With more lives at stake, Joona and Saga must fight to stop a killer who always seems to be one step ahead. Ultimately the case will lead them into the shadowy world of international arms trafficking, where they are forced to confront a ruthless psychopath.
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kylie Scott comes a new story in her Stage Dive seriesโฆ
When the girl of your dreams is kind of a nightmare.
As head of security to Stage Dive, one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Sam Knowles has plenty of experience dealing with trouble. But spoilt brat Martha Nicholson just might be the worst thing heโs ever encountered. The beautiful troublemaker claims to have reformed, but Sam knows better than to think with whatโs in his pants. Unfortunately, itโs not so easy to make his heart fall into line.
Marthaโs had her sights on the seriously built bodyguard for years. Quiet and conservative, heโs not even remotely her type. So why the hell canโt she get him out of her mind? Thereโs more to her than the Louboutin wearing party-girl of previous years, however. Maybe itโs time to let him in on that fact and deal with this thing between them.
A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentionsโ#1ย New York Timesbestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up toย Vicious.
Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.
But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, sheโs finally gained the control sheโs always soughtโand will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. Sheโll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.
With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.
Elizabeth Lavenza hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her “caregiver,” and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything–except a friend.
Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable–and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.
But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth’s survival depends on managing Victor’s dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.
Theย USA Todayย bestselling author of the King Series, T.M. Frazier, brings you an all-new trilogy with an anti-hero you’re going to love to hate and a ballsy heroine with more than just tricks up her sleeve.
Love is supposed to be a fairy tale.
Ours is a death wish.
I’m the executioner for the Bedlam Brotherhood.
She’s a con artist working for my greatest enemy.
I use her.
She manipulates me.
We find ourselves on opposite sides of a bloody war.
My heart and head tell me I have to stay away.
My lust for her doesn’t give a sh*t.
Nothing’s fair in love andย gangย war.
Ambitious. Intense. Irresistible.
I never wanted to fall for a man.
And definitely not two men.
They tear me apart until I don’t know how I’ll ever be whole again. Until I’m not sure I want to be. How can I choose between two halves of myself?
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN is the second novel in the USA Today bestselling duet, which begins with Survival of the Richest.
Born and raised as an assassin in the notorious Hunter program, Breed vampire Cain has since put his specialized skills to use as a mercenary willing to clean up any problem for a price. Or so he thought. After a job in Las Vegas strains even his dubious code of honor, Cain pulls up stakes and lands in Miami for a much-needed break. All he wants is time away to clear his head and regroup, but then a beautiful young woman is nearly killed in front of his eyes and the ruthless former Hunter becomes the only thing standing between her and a sniperโs bullet.
Marina Moretskova is no stranger to dangerous men. As the niece of a Russian organized crime boss, sheโs grown up around killers and criminals. But her uncle wants out now, and heโs enlisted Marinaโs help in buying his freedom by delivering valuable intel to a secret contact in exchange for protection. Not even Marinaโs bodyguards are aware of her mission, so when an attempt on her life is averted by a handsome, steely-eyed vampire, as grateful as she is for Cainโs intervention, the last thing she needs is the shrewd Breed male nosing around for answers. Cainโs cold, haunted gaze and merciless abilities attest to his brutal nature, yet the rough, solitary Hunter stirs a powerful longing in Marinaโa darkly seductive hunger
โthat she can neither afford nor resist. With a target on her back and covert enemies closing in from all sides, trust is a risk that can prove deadly . . . and the safest shelter she may find is in the arms of the most lethal man sheโll ever know.
Iย ย fell in love with a boy whose laughter was the soundtrack of my heart. And I played it on repeat until lifeโs streetlights flickered on and stole him away.
Riot Blu.
Top 40 f*ckboi.
Paparazzi player.
Trashy reality TV trainwreck.
But once upon a time, he was the boy next door.
Once upon a time, he was every note in every song on every mixtape he had ever made for me.
Now heโs back. A lot more arrogant. A little more tortured. And more gorgeous than any memory I held dear could do justice.
I know no good can come from being anywhere near him. But Seattle is only so big, and if Iโm going to get the exclusive of my career, I have to swallow my pride, take that dreaded walk down memory lane and agree to his terms.
Move in with him.
Immerse myself in his lifeโthe life he left me to build.
And try not to fall back in love with the man who ripped my world in two.
In a lot of ways, I was one of the lucky ones. My high school crush liked me back. It should have been magic and fire, but it was tragic and brutal. I wrote it that way, anyways.
His name was Bryan Winthrop. He was our high school basketball star. The prom king. The most beautiful boy I had ever laid eyes on. He liked me — the theatre geek who never should have caught his eye — but heย lovedย her.
It’s been more than 10 years since the homecoming dance. Since the night he kissed me, breaking both of our hearts for the first time.
After the scandal, after graduation, I left our small town and made a name for myself on Broadway, then in Hollywood. I didn’t mean for the play I wrote about our high school affair to blow up. I didn’t mean for it to reach all the way back to my roots, wreaking havoc, wrecking families.
Bryan Winthrop and I were not friends, not lovers.
But I’m back. And for one summer —ย if she lets usย — maybe we can be.
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