The Christmas Letters
Jenny Hale
Publication date: October 11th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

Sometimes, it takes losing everything to find what it is we really need. From the USA Today bestselling author of Coming Home for Christmas, with over one million copies of her books sold, comes a heartwarming holiday story that’s perfect for fans of Sheila Roberts, Debbie Macomber, and Jill Shalvis.

Elizabeth Holloway abandons her New York party at The Plaza, her sparkling world crashing down around her when her boyfriend of seven years drops the bomb that he’s leaving her—at Christmas. She suddenly finds herself seven hundred miles from her home in the city, trudging through the snow, back at her childhood farm in the Great Smoky Mountains in an attempt to piece her life back together.

However, she isn’t expecting to meet visitor Paul Dawson with his dazzlingly blue eyes and warm smile, chipping away at her resolve to focus on figuring out who she is and what she really wants in life.

When her mother is informed that they don’t actually own the farm that’s been in their family for generations, the news makes absolutely no sense to either of them. Nan had married Elizabeth’s grandfather at that house, and they’d lived out their years there.

But a stack of letters from Elizabeth’s grandmother will change everything she thought she knew about her family and cause a divide between her and Paul that she never saw coming.

Under the glitter of Christmas trees and bundles of mistletoe, Elizabeth uncovers more than she’d ever thought possible. Will the Christmas letters strip her of everything she holds dear? Or will they be the biggest gift of the season?

A heartwarming holiday escape that will have you rushing to your loved ones this Christmas. If you enjoyed the Christmas movies based on Jenny’s books and are looking for more feel-good, small-town romance, look no further!

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EXCERPT:

“I’m so sorry, Mama, I can’t talk right now,” Elizabeth Holloway said gently, the phone pressed to her diamond-studded ear, as snow fell like feathers against the glittering buildings of the New York City skyline. “I’ll call you back first thing tomorrow, I promise.”

“Liz,” her mother, Loretta, breathed anxiously down the line in that southern accent that used to sing Elizabeth to sleep at night.

If Elizabeth closed her eyes, she could almost hear her mother’s melody over the chirping of the crickets out back of Nan’s old farmhouse in Mason’s Ridge, Tennessee, the rustling of the trees in the apple orchard, and the squeak of the screened door as Mama stepped through it onto the front porch. While they’d lived just down the road, Nan’s little farmhouse tucked away in the hills had been where both of them had spent most of their time.

Having been so intent on getting out of her hometown, it had taken Elizabeth years to realize how much she missed those sounds.

Growing up, Elizabeth had wanted to get a degree in social work and then go into the Peace Corps, leaving everything behind to learn and work in faraway places. She’d been constrained by her small town and had never really felt like she’d belonged with the people in it. They were all invested in their land and their place within the community, yet she’d wanted to spread her wings. However, she’d only managed to accomplish one of her goals: she’d left that little town, and everyone in it, over a decade ago.

Now her mother was tending to the aftermath of handling Nan’s will and her grandmother’s belongings all by herself, and she had tons of questions about taxes and the legalities of how to assume ownership of Nan’s property. Elizabeth had been trying to support her with it all as much as she could from New York, but it was proving difficult to do.

“I need your help with this,” Mama said, bringing Elizabeth back to the present. “I’m worried it ain’t gonna wait too long.”

A pinch of guilt took hold of Elizabeth’s chest. She wanted to speak to her mother, but the charity benefit that had kept her in New York instead of back in Mason’s Ridge was starting. Nothing could be done with whatever the issue was at this hour, and she needed to take her seat.

“I wish I could discuss this right now,” Elizabeth said, “but I’m on my way in to the event I told you about.”

Holding the phone, she put one stiletto heel out of the limo and took the bellman’s gloved hand, the man guiding her out of the car outside The Plaza where she planned to have drinks, chat with important people, and, if she was lucky, she’d get to do the waltz on the dance floor—her favorite thing at these events. She raised her bright red ball gown to keep the satin from grazing the snow that had piled up in the gutter, a chill slithering down her limbs. Her mother continued to speak, but Elizabeth struggled to concentrate on her words with all the commotion.

The mammoth building in front of her gleamed like a golden torch, surrounded by dazzling Christmas trees, but Elizabeth barely gave it a thought. Her long-time boyfriend, Richard Oppenheim, was already out of the limo and on the sidewalk, standing opposite her in his tuxedo with a collar that showed off his strong jawline. He ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair that had come early for his age, making him look distinguished. Then, spinning a finger in the air impatiently, he indicated that she should wrap up the call before they went inside.

Author Bio:

Jenny Hale is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romantic contemporary fiction. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for television. Her novels Coming Home for Christmas and Movie Guide Epiphany Award winner Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses are Hallmark Channel original movies.

She was included in Oprah Magazine’s “19 Dreamy Summer Romances to Whisk You Away” and Southern Living’s “30 Christmas Novels to Start Reading Now.” Her stories are chock-full of feel-good romance and overflowing with warm settings, great friends, and family. Jenny is at work on her next novel, delighted to be bringing even more heartwarming stories to her readers.

When she isn’t writing, or heading up her romantic fiction imprint Harpeth Road, she can be found running around her hometown of Nashville with her husband, two boys, and their labradoodle, taking pictures—her favorite pastime.

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Velvet Cruelty
Eve Dangerfield
Publication date: October 11th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fairy Tales, Retelling, Romance

Once upon a time I was promised to a powerful man. I was raised to be dutiful and innocent. But on my wedding day, I’m stolen by four men. Men who loathe my fiancé. They’re going to use me to fulfill their vendetta.

One of them only wants my body.
One of them wants me as his wife.
Another one offers freedom… at a price.
And the last wants me dead.

I was raised to be a good society wife. Now I’m facing a battle of wits and breathless desire. My only hope is to set aside my innocence. Or learn to use it as a weapon.

Author’s Note: VELVET CRUELTY is a scorching romance between a woman and four beautifully dangerous men in which she never has to choose. Read at your own discretion.

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EXCERPT:

A girl barely old enough to be called a woman is sitting on a bench two hundred feet below me. She’s laughing, a cutesy box of cupcakes on her knees. I adjust my lens scope and her face comes into focus. Green eyes, pale skin, and a wide, soft mouth with lips as red as blood—a color I’ve seen more of than most. She picks up a cupcake and holds it away from herself, as though afraid to taste it. Knowing her stepmother, she probably is.

Terrell says something and she laughs, her long ebony black hair catching the light. People stare as they walk past, their mouths falling open. The girl’s always been pretty but since she turned eighteen no one can take their eyes off her. I move my scope half an inch to the left and find Terrell. Clean-shaven with a hint of baby fat around the cheeks and chin. He looks younger than thirty-eight. And soft. The kind of guy you’d size up if you were looking to jump someone at a train station.

My finger brushes the rifle trigger. One squeeze, the whisper-jerk of a bullet and he’d be gone. But a quick death is better than Zachery Terrell deserves.

He can’t take his eyes off the girl either. From forty stories away I can tell he wants to grab her hair and pull her mouth onto his cock. He won’t though. Two benches away, not bothering to look like anything but muscle, are her bodyguards. Kurt Whitehall and Theodore Murphy. Their Rugers are in full view at their sides as they chat and eye up female joggers. I could be killing John F Kennedy behind them, and they wouldn’t notice. They’re there to stop Terrell from grabbing teenage tits and that’s all.

I’ll see Whitehall and Murphy soon. Show them exactly how bad they are at their jobs.

The girl stops laughing and brings the pink cupcake to her lips. Her small tongue flicks at the frosting and Terrell almost nuts in his jeans.

She’s not teasing him. She’s just fucking clueless. A doe-eyed little girl. Never been on a date. Never had a friend sleep over. Her mom dresses her in shirts Mormons wouldn’t be caught dead in. Whenever anyone talks to her those big green eyes glaze over. Bobby says she’s pretending to be slow. Doc and I think she’s dumber than a sack of hair. If she had a different last name, she’d have flunked out of high school. But when you know you’ll be married before you can buy beer, why bother learning?

Terrell moves to wipe the pink frosting from her nose and the girl glances at her bodyguards. They snap to attention and Terrell’s hands fall to his sides. He’s smiling but it’s fixed. Irritable. He doesn’t like being told what to do, but rules are rules and no one touches Harlow Constantine. He’s lucky to sit next to her. When the girl graduated from Pembrooke Prep, she received her diploma offstage. She’s danced at the New York Ballet Academy since she was nine, but no one’s ever seen her perform. A kid once tried to film her riding a horse at Kensington Stables and Murphy hit him so hard, he got a concussion.

Terrell’s spent millions gaining the stepmother’s loyalty and that bitch has made sure no one’s so much as brushed up against the girl’s side. She’s as pure as snow and in four weeks she’ll say ‘I do’ and belong to Terrell forever.

Or so he thinks.

Terrell’s security team is almost invisible. Two guys in the skyscraper across the road. Two more in a Buick idling by the curb. A sniper on top of St Michael’s church. If I shot Terrell this morning, I’d have to execute five men in under a minute to get away. Not impossible, but messy. I shift my position, easing the ache in my spine as the girl finishes her cupcake. She sucks leftover frosting from her fingertips and a throb runs down my cock. There’s a body begging for corruption under those ugly clothes. It’d be fun to tear her out of them. She’d cover herself with her hands, but that’d only make it hotter, her tits jiggling as tears ran down her face. I’d feed her Orchard, so she’d be wet and writhing, whatever her prissy little mind told her. I’d pin her to the floor, shove her thighs wide with my knees, and press into her pussy. I’d watch her virgin blood smear up and down my shaft as I fucked her. She’d fight me the whole way, her little fists pounding against my back as I broke her open.

The perfect Constantine princess, ruined by a dirty lowlife like me.

But that’s not the plan. Whatever Morelli decides to do with the girl she doesn’t really matter. Terrell matters. Making him regret the day his father slimed into his whore of a mother matters.

There’s a chance I’ll fuck Harlow Constantine, but it’s more likely I’ll kill her. Kill her, cut out her heart and feed it to Terrell. And it won’t be personal. As Terrell taught us a long time ago, sometimes you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Author Bio:

Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels ever since she first swiped her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own stories about complicated women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Her work has been described as 'genre-defying,' 'insanely hot' and ‘the defibrillator contemporary romance needs right now'...and not just by herself or those who might need bone marrow...OTHER PEOPLE! She lives in Melbourne with her boy and a bunch of semi-dead plants. She can generally be found making a mess.

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Ace of Diamonds
Alta Hensley
(Wonderland, #3)
Publication date: October 4th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense

The winner takes all…

I had her. She was mine. They took her away.

Lyriope Morelli is the dream I’ve been chasing. My obsession isn’t gone, my hunger’s not satiated. I won’t rest until I find her and claim her again. I won’t rest until I’ve dragged her safely back to Wonderland.

Villains don’t get the happily ever after written for them in the story. And I’m the villain of this story–vicious and calculating, terrifying in my whims. Which is why, when it comes to my queen of hearts…

The game has just begun.

Welcome to the Midnight Dynasty… The warring Morelli and Constantine families have enough bad blood to fill an ocean, and their brand new stories will be told by your favorite dangerous romance authors.

WARNING: This book is intended for readers eighteen years old and over. It contains material that some readers could find disturbing. Enter at your own risk…

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EXCERPT:

As she enters through the black velvet curtains entering Wonderland—my Wonderland, I hate that I have to share. I’ve never been good at sharing anything in my life. I want us back in Italy. Just us, under the Tuscan sun, never to be apart. No eyes on her. Not a single soul deciding if they have a chance getting in her panties. No one looking at her but me. Me.

Selfish?

No.

Possessive?

Yes.

If I’d have my way, I’d keep Lyriope locked in a cage with the only key belonging to me. She is the pure definition of perfection, and for some unknown reason, I was the lucky bastard who got the privilege of calling her mine. Even if temporarily. Even if she was mine in a fucked up way. Even if I had to take it. And yes, I most certainly took it.

I had purposely kept an open invite to every single Morelli to Wonderland. No hard feelings… at least on the surface. Come and play with me in Wonderland, motherfuckers. Come play. It’s my way of keeping my enemies close at all times, and it’s on my domain. Had I expected any to attend so closely to the Italy incident? No. So, to see her unexpected visit with Sasha doesn’t exactly have me surprised, just amused that this girl does exactly what she wants and how she wants to do it. Her balls are bigger than any thug at this party. I’m sure Sasha being the devil on her shoulder didn’t hurt in having her return to Wonderland. I’m not sure if I should thank Sasha or—

I notice my security—led by Harrison—are close behind them trying to be subtle, knowing damn well I didn’t plan for her to be here, but are going to do whatever they can to keep her safe. They know me well. I can see that Harrison isn’t pleased, but he wasn’t going to argue with me when I told Martha to let them through the door. After all, I did say all Morellis are on the guest list.

A black dress that shows off every single curve of her body has me paralyzed and unable to take my eyes off her. Not only does she come to my Wonderland unannounced, but she also has to wear a dress that tempts everyone to set eyes on her. Her shapely legs in those black and red-soled heels go on forever. Straight to that pussy I haven’t been able to get my mind off.

Her taste is like heroine to a hopeless junkie, and I shake for another fix.

She’s wearing pearls that hang to her lower belly. Pearls that symbolize the new life she’s living now. She’s no longer the poor hustler her mother raised her to be. No, she’s now the daughter of Bryant Morelli and though I see she’s not truly comfortable in that skin, my fingers twitch to take hold of those pearls and rub them over every inch of her body.

Rich looks good on her.

God, I want her. I want her again, and again, and again.

I’m tempted to repeat history and kidnap her, tie her up in my wine cellar, and parade her naked ass for all my staff to see that my queen has returned to the palace.

I want everyone to know this woman is mine, and only mine. Even if I have to take her again.

Author Bio:

Alta Hensley is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.

She lives in a log cabin in the woods with her husband, two daughters, and an Australian Shepherd. When she isn't battling the bats, and watching the deer, she is writing about villains who always get their love story and happily ever after.

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Aberrant Monsters
Debbie Cassidy
(New Blood: Eldritch Blues, #1)
Publication date: January 26th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Evicting a monster is no easy feat. Especially when the monster lives inside you.

I’m a rift walker, one of a handful of humans able to step into a world of monsters and arcane magic. We follow three simple rules:

• Never step into the eldritch realm after sundown.
• Never stay for more than an hour
• Never, ever bring anything back

I broke all three rules.

Now my body is host to a psychotic aberration who materialises after sundown to haunt me in the flesh. Flesh arranged on a body made for sin, despite its monstrous proportions.

Telarion delights in tormenting me with his deep grumbling voice, and arrogant demands.
He wants out. He wants to be free, and I’m totally on board with finding a way to evict him.

But the Supernatural agency governing Eldritch activity have other plans for us.

They want us to work for them, hunting down other eldritch horrors. In return, they’ll refrain from exterminating us and find a way to separate us instead.

But the clock is ticking, because the longer we’re connected, the more I’m changing, and I’m afraid…Afraid that by the time they find a solution, it might be too late.

I might already be a monster.

A Paranormal Urban Fantasy with an MF romance.

Get books 1-3 for 99¢ from July 20-27 only!

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—

Author Bio:

Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head - in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes Urban Fantasy, Fantasy and Reverse Harem Fantasy. All her books contain plenty of action, romance and twisty plots.

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Spark of Madness
Brynn Ford
(Ember Glen, #1)
Publication date: July 21st 2022
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Dystopian

In Ember Glen, men purge under the full moon. It’s the duty of women to serve them. When Mercy refuses to serve, Arlo will force her to find absolution through three brutal trials. But will their forbidden romance destroy their world?

Mercy
Neglecting my duty to serve is a sin, and during the last full moon, I became a sinner.

He saw me run from my duty, chased me, and caught me.
He promised me that I would be punished.

But I never could have imagined the hellish fate that would be chosen for me. More than that, I never could have imagined the maddening lust that would spark between me and the man who caught me.

This passion is forbidden…and it might set us on fire.

Arlo
It’s my role to catch the sinners, and Mercy sinned gravely.

I saw her and I chased her, drawn to her inexplicably.
She sparked something within me, but she had to be brought to judgment.

Her punishment is coming in the form of an archaic ritual we’re bringing back to make an example of her. I’ll be her warden, her keeper, the man to ensure she stays alive between her torturous trials.

Something within her brings out the worst of me…and the worst of me wants to ruin her.

AUTHOR NOTE: This is a dark romance series that involves many triggering elements which may be upsetting for some readers. A complete list of tropes and triggers can be found on the author’s website at brynnford.com/triggers.

SERIES NOTE: Spark of Madness is book 1 of 3 in the Ember Glen series and it ends on a cliffhanger. The author plans to publish all 3 books by the end of 2022. The trilogy follows Mercy and Arlo and must be read in order.

READING ORDER
Book 1: Spark of Madness (July 21, 2022)
Book 2: Blaze of Misery (October 20, 2022)
Book 3: Embers of Mercy (December 29, 2022)

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EXCERPT:

I sinned.

I ran, and I hid.

I rebelled from my soul’s purpose, and I was promised punishment.

He’s come to punish me.

As soon as the realization hits me, I scramble, kicking against the earth to push myself backward and crawl out from beneath him. He ignores me as I awkwardly rush to my feet and back away; instead, he bends to pick up my mother’s journal.

No!

I lunge for it, but he jerks his hand away, holding the journal beside his head.

“Give that back.”

“No,” he says plainly.

He slowly lowers it in front of him, thumbing open the pages.

I lunge again to snatch it, but he only steps back, narrowing his eyes at me with his head tilted toward the pages. “Stop. Your property is my property now.”

“What?”

What is he saying?

I’m entitled to have my own things.

Except, the Control has license to take authority over the personal property of sinners.

And I’m a sinner now.

I feel frozen as I watch him flip through the pages, reading a sentence here and there. A shiver runs up my spine despite the warmth of the sun, and I hug myself, running my hands up and down my arms. Movement in the distance catches my eye; standing at the tree line, at the edge of the meadow, are the other six members of the Control.

Watching.

Waiting.

The notion of my death claws through my mind, scratching away all other thoughts.

Have they come to kill me?

Will I die today?

How will they do it? Burned at the stake like my mother?

“What is this?” Arlo asks, closing the journal and holding it up. “Is this your mother’s?”

I hear him, but I struggle to respond. The very essence of my being is trapped behind a thick wall of ice inside my mind, frozen and paralyzed to thoughts of punishment and death.

“Forget it,” he says with exasperation. “Come with me.”

He holds out his palm, covered with a black leather glove, and I stare at it as if it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen, as if it’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen…because it is.

If I take his hand, he’ll lead me away, only I don’t know where to and I don’t know what will happen then. I don’t know if I’ll be hurt or tortured, or if I’ll be killed immediately.

I lift my gaze from his hand to meet his stare. “Are you going to kill me?”

His eyes are blue—bright blue, like the clear sky above. They sparkle as he watches me, waiting for me to take his outstretched hand.

I think it’s the first time I’ve ever really looked at him. I’ve only known him by name and in passing before the other night in the forest. I knew of him; I’d seen him and could identify him easily. But looking at him now, I know I’ve never truly seen him before.

“Not personally, and certainly not today,” he offers. “Come along now. We have things to discuss.”

“What things?”

He takes a step closer, and instinctively, I step back.

“Mercy.”

“What’s going to happen to me? Please. Can’t you just tell me now?”

“I’m not going to ask you again.” His offered palm twitches with threat. “We will drag you away if you insist on resisting.”

Part of me wants to resist. If my fate has already been decided—and I suspect it has—then resistance won’t change the outcome. Resisting might make me feel like I did something, that I at least tried. That part of me makes my knees bend with the urge to run.

Author Bio:

Brynn Ford writes dark romance for daring readers. She is a lover of the dark, twisted, and playful, and strives to bring these elements into her stories.

When she isn't obsessively writing, you may find her binge-watching favorite shows while eating far too much junk food or fanatically reading, always seeking to lose herself in the emotional roller coaster of a damn good story.

She's a firm believer that her characters continue to live outside the pages in the minds of her readers. Stories don't end just because there aren't any more pages to turn.

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