This will be quite a large haul because I threw all restraint out the window since there were so many good books on sale the last week of December. Well, December in general, which is how I ended up purchasing 25 books last month. I don’t mind buying books that I have had my eye on for awhile, especially when the prices are so good. Where I get into trouble is when I buy books that I wasn’t really interested in but the price is good and it sounds interesting so I get it. Going into the new year I hope to limit myself to ten books a month (down from 13) to combat myself buying books just to buy them. With the caveat that if it is something I have been waiting to go on sale that I will get it. Of course, none of this applies to books that I get that are free since I will continue to pick up any that sound good to me.

No synopsis since this is the last book in the trilogy.

Jaycee Lawrence has never had room in her life for anything less than perfection. Now charged with keeping the hottest contractor on television in one piece and on schedule, her life revolves around production times and remodeling nightmares—not to mention the very real issue of guarding her heart from falling for her very eligible boss. Weakness in this industry is not an option, and it’s never been one for Jaycee either. Then life starts throwing kinks and curve balls at her. With her family back home in jeopardy, what will she choose — the job and Derek or the life she left behind when it collapsed around her? 

Derek West never pictured himself running his own construction show, but working for the Home & Hearth Channel has become his Number One priority. On the job, he will settle for nothing less than 100% perfection, and that’s why he likes having Jaycee around. His focus and drive is only surpassed by hers, and he has learned to relax and work and let her take care of the rest of his life for him. However, when tragic news strikes for Jaycee back home, Derek soon realizes his reliance on her might run deeper than just schedules and take-out. Can he fight the growing attraction with the woman he always thought was just doing her job? Or is Derek in much deeper than he ever thought possible—too deep to go back and deep enough to drown if he doesn’t figure out how to stay strong and resist the feelings that are quickly becoming impossible to ignore? 

WHEN I’M WEAK is The Epic Sequel to MIRROR MIRROR

All I want for Christmas is Branson Ford.

I’ve been starry-eyed for my handsome boss since the day I started working for him at Empire Media. Problem is, he doesn’t see me as anything more than his sweet assistant.

I need help becoming a vixen. I need someone to teach me how to be sensual, how to be desired, and how to get the man I’ve pined over for the last two years. So, I enlist the help of my co-worker.

My very sexy, very charming co-worker, Hunter Johnstone.

Hunter loves the thrill of the chase. He’s spontaneous, honest, and just the man I need for a lesson in passion. When he suggests we start a fake relationship, I think he’s crazy, but who am I to question his jealousy-inducing ways?

His little trick works—maybe too well. The line between friends and lovers is blurred, but maybe that’s because it was never really there. And just as I’m about to start seeing clearly, my Christmas wish comes true.

Orphaned at seven, kicked out by his aunt and uncle at 16, Sergeant Emerson Myers gave up on family until General Augustus Reed chose him as his assistant, becoming as much a father-figure as a commanding officer. But when the General starts sending elite forces men home to marry his estranged daughters, Emerson’s torn between relief at not being given such an irrevocable mission and dismay the man never even considered him for the job.

Wyoming Smith has watched with a mixture of wonder and horror—and a little envy, if she’s honest—as her best friend Cass and all Cass’s sisters have married the warriors their father sent to them. Witnessing their happiness was hard enough when her life was on track, but now she’s lost her job and her apartment and she’s accepted Cass’s invitation to live at Two Willows, which means she has a front row seat to five loving marriages—while remaining all alone.

Emerson knows marriage isn’t for him and he’s ready to recommit to his career in the Army—but before he can, an explosion rips his life apart—and the General’s. 

Wyoming knows everything will change now that the General is coming home to Two Willows. Will she have to leave?
Or has the General had a bigger plan all along?

Cities tend to be glamorized by movies and Instagram pictures, but the truth is it’s harder to live in urban areas than expected. Stepping out onto the urine-soaked streets of San Francisco can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a slightly overweight, single, small-town girl. 

In order to cover the cost of over-priced city rent, twenty-three-year-old Mallory Bates is forced to do the responsible thing and ask a complete stranger to move in with her. Kaden Covington, her supposed Southern belle roommate, turns out to be a he rather than the she Mallory expected. Mallory has always been lacking in the boyfriend department, so she’s naïve to the signs of a budding relationship with Kaden until it’s too late to turn off the emotions. 

On top of an unconventional living situation, Mallory’s first client at her PR firm, Rachel Hines, is a demanding nightmare. 

Follow Mallory’s journey as she navigates through the tough “firsts” as an adult. 

No synopsis since this is the second book in the trilogy.

Some things shouldn’t be left to chance…

Victoria Madaris is next on her great-grandmother’s matchmaking list—which suits her just fine. She’s laser-focused on her career and doesn’t have time to concentrate on her love life, too. Knowing that Mama Laverne is vetting unsuitable candidates—like rising US senator Roman Malone—makes things easy.

But Roman unexpectedly ticks all of Victoria’s boxes. The longtime family friend is outrageously sexy, and every time they meet, their chemistry crackles. Being a journalist, though, Victoria just doesn’t trust politicians. Plus, her matchmaker’s expert opinion keeps pointing to the charming and handsome Tanner Jamison. And everybody knows, Mama Laverne is never wrong. 

Suddenly, Victoria sees Tanner everywhere—as if by fate—but she doesn’t feel any attraction. Meanwhile, the more Victoria gets to know Roman, the harder it is to resist him. Her head is saying play it safe, but is her heart strong enough to go against her better judgment…and Mama Laverne’s?

The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!

Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.

But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?

As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.

No strings attached? Wrong. So wrong. 

Layla moved to Baltimore in search of a fresh start. After too many years in a lackluster relationship, she’s ready to embrace her wild side. Casual is her new middle name and the last thing she wants or needs is a serious relationship. 

Finn and his best friend, Miguel are ALL IN on showing Layla a good time. After all, neither one of them is looking for love either. Or so they think. 

Until Finn falls for Layla and Miguel falls for Finn and Layla falls for…both men. Then it’s a wild side freefall as the three lovers try to make one plus one plus one equal the perfect match.

What’s a small town Christmas without a little romance?

Fake relationships, second chances, friends to lovers, and sexy brother’s best friends.

Mix in some small town gossip, meddling matchmakers, and Christmas magic and you have a perfect holiday escape.

Finding His Cheer by Claire Wilder
He loved and lost. She’s just lost. This Christmas, will love be the thing that finds them both?

Operation: Christmas Seduction by Megan Ryder
A sexy bartender seduces his crush of Christmas trees, gifts, and cookies. But when the season ends, will their romance too?

Second Chance Christmas: A Small Town Romance by Alexa Rivers
Breaking down outside her ex’s bar wasn’t part of the plan. Could a Christmas reunion reignite their old spark?

Love at Frost Sight by Bell Splendor
When two enemies come together, will it be steamy heat, or a melting iceberg of disaster?

Captivated by Danielle Pays
Needed: One fake boyfriend for the holidays. She never expected her brother’s best friend, aka her crush, to volunteer.

Twelve Days by Kate Stacy
She’s missing her usual holiday spirit, until a secret admirer gives her twelve days of Christmas she’ll never forget.

Christmas at La Villa Rosa by Rebecca Barton
Two creatives clashing on a joint project…surely it’s too cold to shut each other out, especially on Christmas Eve?

Her Second Chance Christmas by Kaci Rose
Her best friend’s Christmas wedding. A family reunion and the man she never thought she’d see again.

Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe by Dawn Luedecke
The only person who can put Sexy Santa in his place is a pain in the butt, and the perfect Mrs. Claus.

Sally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister.

There’s only been one time that Rose couldn’t stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous.

When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.

Fern’s mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.

The multimillion-copy New York Times bestselling author B.A. Paris returns to her heartland of gripping psychological suspense in The Therapist–a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

The first book in a new YA fantasy duology from a bestselling genre-expanding master, about a teenager who embarks on a quest to protect the world from an alternate universe where magic abounds and history has been rewritten.

After Jonathan Lambshead’s elusive grandfather dies, the recently orphaned teenager inherits the family mansion—and its contents. Jonathan soon discovers that the mansion’s basement holds more than just oddities: three doors serve as portals, with one leading to an alt-Earth called Aurora, where magic abounds, history has been re-written, and an occult dictator called Aleister Crowley leads an army pillaging alt-Europe. Jonathan learns of his destiny as a member of The Order, a secret society devoted to keeping our world separate from Aurora, and embarks on an epic quest to protect Earth from Crowley’s dark magic.

Over the course of the duology, Jonathan uncovers more of the worlds outside of our own, the magic that permeates them, his own destiny, and the secrets buried in his family history.

In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges… a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is her story, her homage to horror and revenge and triumph.

Written in dead letters… and covered in blood!

Demonic possession! Haunted condominiums! Murderous babies! Man-eating moths! No plot was too ludicrous, no cover art too appalling, no evil too despicable for the Paperbacks From Hell.

Where did they come from? Where did they go? Horror author Grady Hendrix risks his soul and sanity (not to mention yours) to relate the true, untold story of the Paperbacks From Hell.

Shocking story summaries! Incredible cover art! And true tales of writers, artists, and publishers who violated every literary law but one: never be boring. All this awaits, if you dare experience the Paperbacks From Hell.

Immortalized in the spellbinding documentary Dear Zachary, this angry, raw, and brutally honest memoir of murder and loss chronicles a system’s failure to prevent the death of a child. 

In November 2001, the body of a young doctor named Andrew Bagby was discovered in Keystone State Park outside Latrobe, Pennsylvania, five bullet wounds in his face, chest, buttocks, and the back of the head. For parents Dave and Kate, the pain was unbearable—but Andrew’s murder was only the first in a string of tragic events. 

The chief suspect for Andrew’s murder was his ex-girlfriend Shirley Turner—also a doctor. Obsessive and unstable, Shirley Turner lied to the police and fled to her family home in Newfoundland before she could be arrested. While fending off extradition efforts by U.S. law enforcement, she announced she was pregnant with Andrew’s son, Zachary. The Bagbys—hoping to gain custody of Zachary—moved to Newfoundland and began a long, drawn-out battle in court and with Canadian social services to protect their grandson from the woman who had almost certainly murdered their son. Then, in August 2003, Shirley Turner killed herself and the one-year-old Zachary by jumping into the Atlantic Ocean. 

DANCE WITH THE DEVIL is a eulogy for a dead son, an elegy for lives cut tragically short, and a castigation of a broken system.

By chance, John and Jean–one English, the other French–meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance to each other is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking – until at last John falls into a drunken stupor. It’s to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, Jean has stolen his identity and disappeared. So the Englishman steps into the Frenchman’s shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles – as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.

Gripping and complex, The Scapegoat is a masterful exploration of doubling and identity, and of the dark side of the self.

A spell-binding retelling of The Nutcracker, filled with enchanted toys, decadent balls, fierce feminine friendships and a forbidden romance. For fans of The Toymakers, Caraval and The Bear and the Nightingale.

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms. 

When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary. 

But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.

Hunter

I didn’t mean to star in a sex tape, okay?
It was just one of those unexplainable things. Like Stonehenge, Police Academy 2, and morning glory clouds.
It just happened.
Now my ball-busting father is sentencing me to six months of celibacy, sobriety, and morbid boredom under the roof of Boston’s nerdiest girl alive, Sailor Brennan.
The virginal archer is supposed to babysit my ass while I learn to take my place in Royal Pipelines, my family’s oil company.
Little does she know, that’s not the only pipe I’ll be laying…

Sailor
I didn’t want this gig, okay?
But the deal was too sweet to walk away from.
I needed the public endorsement; Hunter needed a nanny.
Besides, what’s six months in the grand scheme of things?
It’s not like I’m in danger of falling in love with the appallingly gorgeous, charismatic gazillionaire who happens to be one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors.
No. I will remain immune to Hunter Fitzpatrick’s charm.
Even at the cost of losing everything I have.
Even at the cost of burning down his kingdom.

Who knew sleeping with the enemy could be this fun? 

Was the one night stand a good idea? 

Well, no. Probably not in retrospect. 

In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead. 

So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it! 

Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way. 

I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

What would you give up for the one who makes you whole? 

Jayne
I’m serving a five-year sentence as my mother’s puppet.
She dangles the only thing I want in front of me and I have no choice but to obey.
My father’s will states that I take possession of our family beach house on my 25th birthday.
I have six short weeks left to toe the line then the only thing I’ve ever wanted becomes mine and I’m free.
But then they come into the picture.
Two men. Brothers.
My new sexy and controlling bosses.
And suddenly, there’s more to want in this life.
But will having them cost me everything?

Declan and Lucas
Our father is living with a narcissistic gold digger.
And her daughter just came to work for us.
She doesn’t know who we are, but we know who she is.
We’ll use her to find out what we need to know about her mother.
But then she walks into our office and our plans change.
She’s everything we want and we’re more than willing to share.
Her little straight and narrow life is about to take a detour because we’re in the driver’s seat and we’re taking control.
She thinks she knows where her comfort zone ends… she’s about to find out how very wrong she is.

I’ve been sent into the lair of the beast….

It should be a dream assignment—leave my boring day-to-day routine and travel to a seaside mansion to interview superstar author Jack R. R. Bestia. Who wouldn’t want that?

Me, that’s who.

He has a reputation for being reclusive and temperamental, but that’s not why I’m leery of the assignment. It’s because the first (and last) time I met Jack… well, let’s just say I didn’t make a good impression.

When I get to the mansion—which is more like a secluded castle—things don’t go much better. I’m sure he’s going to throw me out entirely. The only way I manage to squeak in is by signing a massive non-disclosure agreement. And I soon figure out why.

Jack has a secret—and it’s a big one.

Now that iron-clad contract I signed means I have to stay here until his long-overdue book is finished—and he’s not going to make it easy.

Jack acts every bit as beastly as the tabloids claimed, and I feel like a fairytale princess trapped in his tower. But every once in a while I get a glimpse of the charming (not to mention super sexy) man beneath the growly exterior and I wonder… could this beast be tamed?

Bookworm and the Beast is a full-length hot romantic comedy take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. It’s a standalone enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn romance with no cheating or cliffhangers but plenty of humor and heart.

Callie can’t resist the advertisement for a ranch manager in Montana. Only thing is, it also stipulates marriage. Down on her luck with more debt than she can manage after the death of her parents in a vehicle accident, she takes the plunge and commits for twelve months. 

Chance is sick of the high life he’s led for years as a top International Bull Rider. The glitz and glamour aren’t what he wants. After an accident leaves him unable to return to the tour, he decides now is the time to do what his heart has been yearning for – marry a down to earth country girl and raise bulls on his ranch, with the hope of bringing his brothers back together. 

Little did he know that an advertisement would bring him a sassy talking Australian bride to turn his world up side down… Will Callie return home after her contract is up, or can Chance convince her to say I do forever?

~Cassie