NBJ WEEKLY RECAP – 3 Oct 2023

NEW RELEASES

ONE NIGHT STAND + ENEMIES TO LOVERS
He’s the last man I should’ve picked for a one night stand…
See that guy over there? The insanely tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, scowling, “I don’t drink coffee” suit?
Surprise! He’s the new owner of my family’s mountain café.
The café that has been my life purpose since I was born in the kitchen there almost thirty years ago.
The café that he’s planning to completely gut and renovate for revenge against my family.
He’s also the funny, charming, irresistible guy I spilled all of my secrets to last week.
During the hottest one-night stand of my life.
As my dog would say, woof me.
Secrets and gossip keep getting me in trouble, and I swore I was done with both, but now my family’s café is on the line.
It’s time to use every last trick I know to uncover every secret this man is hiding.
I don’t care how much I liked him our first night together, or how much I keep seeing glimpses of that man beneath his gruff exterior.
One of us has to go.
It won’t be me.
This is a standalone novel in the Three BFFs and a Wedding series.
Series recommended reading order: The Worst Wedding Date | The Gossip and the Grump

Click to Read An Excerpt

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU


ABDUCTION
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime.
It’s senior-year spring break, and Noelle Meyer and Evan Sinclair have been kidnapped. Neither knows why they were chosen, only that they share a tragic past: Evan’s father got away with killing Noelle’s mother, effectively ruining her family when the death was ruled an accident.
Despite the connection that should have made them enemies, the teens instead unite to face their other common denominator—their abductors. Noelle and Evan survive one sadistic circumstance after another, eventually making a harrowing escape. But every happy ending comes at a price…
Years later, Evan, now a private investigator, revisits the crime when he learns it may be ongoing. He reaches out to Noelle for help, and they discover that the answers lie with a man known only as the Collector. To close their case and solve the ones that followed, Noelle and Evan must unmask this mysterious spectator—the only man who knows enough secrets to take their captors down.
This is a standalone novel.


Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Print  |  Audio


ONE NIGHT STAND + WORKPLACE ROMANCE
Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.
Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.
Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing” rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?
This is a standalone novel in the Maple Hills series.
Series recommended reading order: Icebreaker | Wildfire

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Apple Books |  Print  |  Audio


MENAGE MARRIAGE
Falling in love while being tortured isn’t just a trial by fire, it’s trial under fire.
Izabel didn’t expect her marriage to include kidnapping and torture. The honeymoon hasn’t even begun before she and her new husbands are kidnapped by a group of dangerous zealots.
She only just met the men she’ll marry, but one of them is hiding his dangerous past. She’ll have to embrace and accept that darkness, because it will take all three of them working together to discover who their enemies are, and what they want.
No matter what their captors do, the one thing they can never reveal is that they’re in an arranged menagé marriage because they’re members of America’s oldest and most powerful secret society. If they fail to defeat this enemy, they’ll lose more than their tenuous bond, or their freedom. They could very well lose their lives.
This is the second and final book in the Crossroads Contempt series, set in the larger Trinity Masters series where an exclusive secret society requires every woman to enter into a marriage with two men.
Series recommended reading order: Forgotten Promise | Stolen Faith

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Apple Books | Print


SECOND CHANCES + FRIENDS TO LOVERS + ROCKSTAR + SMALL TOWN
Johnny Bishop crashed into my life like a hurricane. Not once, but twice.
The first time, we were teenagers. He was the star quarterback destined to save our small town’s high school team. I was the music nerd desperate to shine, but always falling short.
Until him.
Johnny was good at football, but he was great at music. And when I realized we shared a love of performing, I fell for his charm. I drank in his words and was hypnotized by the way he sang. I was never fully in the spotlight with him, but the way he held onto me and kept me close felt good enough. His star was bright enough for both of us, and his dreams were worth all the risks, even if they were my dreams first.
But when he left our town—leaving me in it—the damage in his wake was devastating. I spent a decade trying to piece together my broken heart. A decade trying to avoid his music, a nearly impossible feat considering he was selling out arenas and piling up Grammys. While he tore through city after city, I built a quiet life as a music teacher in my hometown.
I’d made peace with the fact that a now famous rockstar once held my hand and told me he loved me. But when he shows up unannounced, begging for help, I’m sucked right back into his gravitational pull.
I want to hate him. I want to punish him for turning his back on me. But I can’t when he’s so broken. And the more time we spend in our present talking about our past, the more I start to wonder if maybe Johnny left to save us all from the storm.
Maybe that story about me and the famous rockstar has a lot more story to be told.
This is a standalone novel.


Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU


PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Torn apart by tragedy, Lorelei has kept Xander at arm’s length, focusing on her career and gifts, rather than rekindling their love. But now that she’s back in Salem, she can’t avoid him and finds herself slowly softening toward the man she’s loved all of her life. However, the witch hunter they’ve been fighting still hasn’t been vanquished. Between that and breaking the curse of the Blood Moon, now is not the best time for her to give the sexy Xander another try.
Despite Lora pushing him away, Xander has never stopped loving her. But now that the stakes are higher with evil threatening them more than ever, he is done giving her time and space. With the curse that Jonas put into place long ago creating havoc with the innocent residents of Salem, the core six, their coven, and the witches from Hallows End need to work together to overcome true wickedness.
Will Xander and Lora find themselves once again amidst these stormy seas and their recent separation? Or will evil reign, throwing the core six, Salem and Hallows End into unimaginable peril?
This is the final standalone novel in The Curse of the Blood Moon series.
Series recommended reading order: Hallows End | Cauldrons Call | Salems Song

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Print | Audio


Melody Gallard may be the daughter of music royalty, but her world is far from glamorous. She spends her days restoring old books and avoiding the limelight (one awkward tabloid photo was enough, thanks). But when a producer offers her a lot of money to reunite her mother’s band on live tv, Mel begins to wonder if it’s time to rattle the cage, shake up her quiet life… and see him again. The only other person who could wrangle the rock and roll divas.
Beat Dawkins, the lead singer’s son, is Melody’s opposite—the camera loves him, he could charm the pants off anyone, and his mom is not a potential cult leader. Still, they might have been best friends if not for the legendary feud that broke up the band. When they met as teenagers, Mel felt an instant spark, but it’s nothing compared to the wild, intense attraction that builds as they embark on a madcap mission to convince their mothers to perform one last show.
While dealing with rock star shenanigans, a 24-hour film crew, brawling Santas, and mobs of adoring fans, Mel starts to step out of her comfort zone. With Beat by her side, cheering her on, she’s never felt so understood. But Christmas Eve is fast approaching, and a decades-old scandal is poised to wreck everything—the Steel Birds reunion, their relationships with their mothers, and their newfound love.
This is a standalone novel.


Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Apple Books |  Print  |  Audio


GRUMPY/SUNSHINE + FORCED PROXIMITY
A tough-as-leather football player. A happy-go-lucky historian. It’s love against all odds in a warm and emotional romance about found family, friendship, and the restorative powers of the heart.
Former Dallas football player Burke Barrett is weathering a lot of changes. He’s retired from football. He’s mourning the loss of his best friend. And now he’s been bequeathed a dilapidated house in northern Michigan he doesn’t want. To his surprise it comes with a long-legged, blindly optimistic renovation manager with big ideas for Burke’s inheritance. She’s passionate, irritating, and irresistible.
Restoration expert Charlotte Cunningham is used to rough exteriors. This surly client, with his stubbled jaw, towering physique, and inflexible attitude, is worth smoothing over. The attraction sizzles, and a proposal is in order: a romantic tryst to relieve the tension. No strings attached. A safe bet for both of them since Burke is prepared to renovate, sell, and move on.
A pet project with an end date. Does that go for love too? Burke must decide what he really wants and what he’s willing to risk. He should know by now that the best-laid plans can change in a heartbeat.
This is a standalone novel in the all-new The Best Men series.


Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Print | Audio

The post NBJ WEEKLY RECAP – 3 Oct 2023 appeared first on Natasha is a Book Junkie .