In For a Penny by Melissa Foster

Standalone: The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor #7.5
Release: December 9, 2020
Dual POV: 3rd person
Heat level: 4 out of 5
Format/Source: eARC provided by the author
Length: 74 pages

Friendships and family abound during a week of love, laughter, and happily ever afters. Catch up with your favorite characters and enjoy Bones and Sarah’s wedding while falling in love with the newest Whiskey-world couple, Penny Wilson and Scott Beckley in this Whiskey series novella.

When everything you want is right in front of you, but it's still out of reach… Penny Wilson has a successful business, more friends than a girl could ask for, and a boyfriend she’s madly and passionately in love with. Scott Beckley is honest, loyal, hands down the best lover on the planet, and absolutely gaga over his nieces and nephews. Scott’s a keeper…as long as Penny doesn’t ever want to hear those three magical words that would take their relationship to the next level. Scott escaped abusive parents at seventeen and was forced to find his way alone in the world. Even though it’s been more than a decade and he’s reunited with his estranged sisters and built a good life in Peaceful Harbor, Maryland, he’s still tortured by his past. Penny knows he loves her with everything he has, but for a girl who wants a family and a guy who is afraid of having one, love might not be enough. In For a Penny started out scorching hot and ended delightfully sweet. Penny and Scott were obviously in love and everything should have been easy breezy... but they weren't. Scott couldn't admit his love for Penny in words because those words would lead to expectations. He couldn't give her a home or children or forever. Despite the fact that his love for her was evident in his every word, touch and action, he was terrified of fully giving in. And for Penny, it was all heartbreaking. While all of their friends are enjoying love and bliss, she's full of doubt. Can her love give him the courage to face his greatest fears?

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. Scott was a dirty-talking hunk and Penny was the sweetheart of his dreams. I didn't like some of Penny's thoughts, but her heart was definitely in the right place. There's just something about this author's writing, the small town charm she injects into all of her stories, that just keeps me smiling right to the end. For all fans of the Whiskeys, this story is not to be missed. Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance and women’s fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa’s emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented, the perfect beach reads for contemporary romance and women’s fiction lovers who enjoy reading about loyal, wealthy heroes and smart, sassy heroines with complex relatable issues.

Melissa also writes sweet romance under the pen name, Addison Cole.

Depends on Who’s Asking by Lani Lynn Vale
SWAT Generation 2.0 #12
Release Date: December 8, 2020

It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…nope. No. Nuh-uh. That’s a lie.
The moment that Caro wakes up, she knows that she’s not alone.
One thump-thump from the living room and she quickly moves into action.
One 9-1-1 call later, and she’s ready to defend herself.
Only, she gets more than she bargains for when she steps out into her living room and comes face to face with a living, breathing nightmare.
And isn’t it just fitting that the man that saves her by coming down the chimney with a large black gun in his hand is named Saint Nicholas?
***
It seemed like the start of a bad joke.
Saint Nicholas comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve night, but he isn’t there to bear gifts. He’s there to take out the trash.
When he lands on his silent feet, he has no other choice but to put himself in harm’s way.
One look at Caro’s terrified face, and he can’t stop himself.
He steps in just as the bullets start flying, saving the damsel in distress and taking a bullet to the shoulder for his trouble.
But one thing he can say is, heroes always win the girl.
And Caro is the best Christmas miracle of all.

FIND IT HERE:

I've read and loved every book from this series (including this one) and I can't believe it's done. Being here, at the end, is giving me such a bittersweet feeling. I have now finally really met Saint and Carolina in their very own story and while I couldn't put this book down, I didn't want to finish it either.

Find my full review HERE

ABOUT LANI LYNN VALE

Lani Lynn Vale is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling Author of over thirty titles. She is married with three children, two dogs, two cats, a donkey, and a couple (a couple also meaning over twenty) chickens.

When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up in her favorite chair reading.
Lani is married with three children and lives in the Great State of Texas.

Website: http://www.lanilynnvale.com/
Facebook: https://bit.ly/LLV-fb
Instagram: https://bit.ly/LLV-IG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/LLV-twitter
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/LLVgoodreads
BookBub: http://bit.ly/LLVbb

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another TTT! This meme is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. I've missed a few of these, but I'M BACKKKKK!!!! This week's theme is a Holiday/Seasonal Freebie (holiday books/covers/titles, wintry reads, snow on cover, cool color covers, takes place in cold settings, cozy scenes on cover, etc.). Although I'm a winter baby, and December is my birthday month, I've never actually compiled a list like this. I've never really planned for this season before so I appreciated this week's theme for pushing me to do so now. The following are books that are winter/holiday themed or books that are being released this winter that I would love to have the pleasure to read.


Emil and Brighton Rey defied the odds. They beat the Blood Casters and escaped with their lives–or so they thought. When Brighton drank the Reaper’s Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him.

In Emil’s race to find an antidote that will not only save his brother but also rid him of his own unwanted phoenix powers, he will have to dig deep into the very past lives he’s trying to outrun. Though he needs the help of the Spell Walkers now more than ever, their ranks are fracturing, with Maribelle’s thirst for revenge sending her down a dangerous path.

Meanwhile, Ness is being abused by Senator Iron for political gain, his rare shifting ability making him a dangerous weapon. As much as Ness longs to send Emil a signal, he knows the best way to keep Emil safe from his corrupt father is to keep him at a distance.

The battle for peace is playing out like an intricate game of chess, and as the pieces on the board move into place, Emil starts to realize that he may have been competing against the wrong enemy all along.


When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But it’s nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.

A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes he weren’t. He agrees to take a wife as is required of him, though he doesn’t expect to actually fall in love. Even more vexing? His beguiling new queen seems to have the answers to his country’s problems—except no one will listen to her.

By day, they lead separate lives. By night, she wears the crown, and he bows to her demands in matters of politics and passion. When turmoil erupts in their kingdom and their marriage, Shanti goes on the run, and Sanyu must learn whether he has what it takes both to lead his people and to catch his queen.


If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.

Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.

Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can't just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.


BOY Novak turns twenty and decides to try for a brand-new life. Flax Hill, Massachusetts, isn’t exactly a welcoming town, but it does have the virtue of being the last stop on the bus route she took from New York. Flax Hill is also the hometown of Arturo Whitman—craftsman, widower, and father of Snow. SNOW is mild-mannered, radiant and deeply cherished—exactly the sort of little girl Boy never was, and Boy is utterly beguiled by her. If Snow displays a certain inscrutability at times, that’s simply a characteristic she shares with her father, harmless until Boy gives birth to Snow’s sister, Bird. When BIRD is born Boy is forced to re-evaluate the image Arturo’s family have presented to her, and Boy, Snow and Bird are broken apart. Sparkling with wit and vibrancy, Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about three women and the strange connection between them.


Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed over her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the Czar, who is determined to imprison any who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend Alik, the only piece of home she has left.

That is, until he is brutally murdered.

A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held against his will. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot.

And it has waited years for release.


Kresley Cole - Untouchable (Immortals After Dark #7) - Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela - the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can't be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Can they conquer an agony of frustration and slake the overwhelming desire burning between them?

Gena Showalter - Tempt Me Eternally (Alien Huntress #4.5) - With only skin-to-skin contact, Aleaha Love can change her appearance, assume any identity. Now she’s an AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) agent on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she is held captive when dangerously seductive Breean, a golden-skinned, iron-willed commander, threatens her new life - and for the first time, Aleaha wants only to be herself.


Lynnwood Thatcher Windsor has lived a lot of lies. Seen a lot of good men go down.

But he will not stand by and watch as the world he’s built from the ground up burns to ashes before his eyes. Even if he has to build an army to combat the problem he sees brewing around him.

One step at a time, he carefully lays out his plan, building layer after careful layer until everything is where he wants it to be.

Every part is impeccably played, his pawns are in the perfect place, and then she barrels into his life, totally scattering every single piece he’s set in motion.

The bad thing is, she doesn’t even realize how badly she’s messed up until she’s roused the beast.

***

The day that Six Ines Broussard met Lynnwood Thatcher Windsor was the worst day of her life.

First, she has a public breakup with a man she’s not even dating. Second, she has to deal with a black-tie event that she’d rather gouge her eyes out than to go to. Third, she then has to sit at a table for hours on end with the one man she despises.

Just wanting a break, she thinks she’ll lose herself for a few hours and do what she loves to do best—spend time by herself and go for a walk in the middle of nowhere, spot some birds, and get a little sun. Only, her day doesn’t go nearly as planned.

She walks right into the middle of hell. And at the center of it? Lynnwood Thatcher. The mayor. The man that she took one glance at on the night of his inauguration and dismissed as boring. A total stick in the mud.

Only, he’s not so boring shirtless, in the middle of nowhere, doing things that are very illegal.

At first, she’s appalled. Then her interest gets piqued. Stuck-up suit is hot! And he has tattoos. Oh, and let’s not forget one hell of a mouth on him!

Then he goes and kidnaps her, and she realizes that nobody is quite as hot as you thought they were when they’re now holding you hostage.


Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she'll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…


After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. Now the last surviving witchdoctor, she’s been left to pick up the shattered pieces of a family that betrayed her, a kingdom in shambles, and long-buried secrets about who she is.

Desperate not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, Arrah must return to the tribal lands to search for help from the remnants of her parents’ people. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible—if it’s something she can bring herself to do at all.


Have you ever been wrong about someone?

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

---

Straightened Out by Janine Infante Bosco

Standalone: The Pastore Crime Family #1
Release: November 23, 2020
Genre: Romantic Suspense/organized crime
Dual POV: 1st person
Heat level: 4 out of 5
Format/Source: ebook provided by the author
Length: 289 pages

I'm a mob boss with a tarnished name, leading a kingdom in the shadows of disgrace.
She's a ballerina, the sister of my underboss, dancing her way through life.
Until her, all I wanted was to be straightened out.
But with power comes sacrifice.
With respect comes fear.
With love comes death.
The rule of the streets is to take or be taken.
Some legends are born, others are made.
But not all survive.
When Rocco was first introduced, I felt he came off as too brash, too impulsive, too reckless, too ignorant, and way too irreverent. In all honesty, my conclusions about him didn't change until almost the end of this story. He was nowhere near ready to be a made man, but when his uncle, Victor Pastore, calls on him, expecting him to step up when he's gone, he's got no choice. If this book was about anything, it was about Rocco growing up, maturing, and figuring out his place in this thing called life.

Then there was Violet, the girl who didn't have a clue. She didn't know what she wanted, couldn't stand up for herself, but she knew she loved Rocco. Together they were a hot mess of angst and drama and yet nothing, not even bullets, could keep them apart. Not her mother. Not her brother, who also happened to be Rocco's best friend and right hand man. Not nothing.

It took me a while to realize that this wasn't a continuation to the timeline of the Satan's Knights - it ran concurrent to it. Not only was it the beginning of Stryker and Gina's relationship (loved getting that glimpse of them), it was the start of Rocco's relationship with the Knights. I was so happy to see all of my favorites again. See... gone but never forgotten. And while I grew to appreciate Rocco and began to love him, I will always be Property of Parrish! Janine Infante Bosco lives in New York City, she has always loved reading and writing. When she was thirteen, she began to write her own stories and her passion for writing took off as the years went on. At eighteen, she even wrote a full screenplay with dreams of one day becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love. She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself.

She is proud of her success as an author and the friendships she's made in the book community but her greatest accomplishment to date would be her two sons Joseph and Paul.

Depends On Who's Asking by Lani Lynn Vale

Standalone: SWAT Generation 2.0 #12
Release: December 8, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance w/ suspense - instalove
Dual POV: 1st person
Heat level: 4 out of 5
Format/Source: eARC provided by the author
Length: 213 pages

It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…nope. No. Nuh-uh. That’s a lie.
The moment that Caro wakes up, she knows that she’s not alone.
One thump-thump from the living room and she quickly moves into action.
One 9-1-1 call later, and she’s ready to defend herself.
Only, she gets more than she bargains for when she steps out into her living room and comes face to face with a living, breathing nightmare.
And isn’t it just fitting that the man that saves her by coming down the chimney with a large black gun in his hand is named Saint Nicholas?
***
It seemed like the start of a bad joke.
Saint Nicholas comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve night, but he isn’t there to bear gifts. He’s there to take out the trash.
When he lands on his silent feet, he has no other choice but to put himself in harm’s way.
One look at Caro’s terrified face, and he can’t stop himself.
He steps in just as the bullets start flying, saving the damsel in distress and taking a bullet to the shoulder for his trouble.
But one thing he can say is, heroes always win the girl.
And Caro is the best Christmas miracle of all.
I've read and loved every book from this series (including this one) and I can't believe it's done. Being here, at the end, is giving me such a bittersweet feeling. I have now finally really met Saint and Carolina in their very own story and while I couldn't put this book down, I didn't want to finish it either. Unsurprisingly, I loved both Saint and Carolina. From their awkward and suspenseful meet-cute to their forced quarantine to all the things that made up their connection, they were easy to fall for.

Things did get a bit messy for these two and some of the moving parts didn't really flow properly, but none of that took away from the beauty of what was developing between these characters.

I loved that Saint was an introvert because it made him so relatable. He learned (the hard way) that some people were only in your life to get what you could give. Finding Carolina, a woman who only wanted him for him and not what he could do or for who he knew, was a blessing and he didn't take that for granted.

I also adored Carolina and the organic way her feelings grew. She was patient and understanding and loyal and exactly the type of woman Saint needed in his life. The author did an amazing job of bring these people to life for me. So it's the end. And while I'm happy for the journey and sad that it's concluded, I'm excited for what's to come. Mayor Lynn's story is next and I cannot wait to get my eager little hands on it. Lani Lynn Vale is married to the love of her life that she met in high school. She fell in love with him because he was wearing baseball pants. Ten years later they have three perfectly crazy children and a cat named Demon who likes to wake her up at ungodly times in the night. They live in the greatest state in the world, Texas. She writes contemporary and romantic suspense, and has a love for all things romance. You can find Lani in front of her computer writing away in her fictional characters world...that is until her husband and kids demand sustenance in the form of food and drink.

When was the last time a book got on your nerves for no reason? As most of you know, I was in the worst book slump I've ever been in. THE ABSOLUTE WORST!! It took way too long to get out of it, especially because it felt like I was forcing myself to read when I just wasn't in the mood, but for November, I chose to read whatever called to me. And it freaking worked!! No more slump. No more bad mood. No more negative bookish vibes. I'm not all the way back to normal, but I'm definitely better and that's gotta count for something. I'm hoping I can keep this positive momentum going up until the new year and that 2021 brings me all the best books possible.

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I did read other books this month that I didn't post about on my blog, such as:
Wing and a Prayer by Amy Cissell
Angels of the Triad: Sariel by Maddie Wade
Wings of the Wraith by Khardine Gray
Before the Fall by Colleen S. Myers
Devil's Claim by Dariel Raye & Muffy Wilson
Arija and The Burning City by Zachary Paul Chopchinski
Chasing Fate by J.R. Thorn
Torn: a Fallen Angel love story by Ditter Kellen
Unsuitable Companions by Erin Lee

I only added two books to my TBR for November. They are: Between Dawn and Dusk by Jamie Schlosser (to start a series that sounds incredibly good) and Daughter of Death by Lexi Foss (after reading Son of Chaos, I need to go back to the beginning).

And although I wasn't in the reading mood, I knew I would be some day, so I was still buying books (obviously). I'm still excited to read what I got. My one-click digital buys were:

Prisoned by Marni Mann
The Rivals: a Rivers Wilde Collection by Dylan Allen (pre-order)
Runaway Road by Devney Perry
Knight's Redemption by Sherilee Gray
The Swedish Prince by Karina Halle
Special Delivery by Lauren Blakely
Blood Seeker by Lexi C. Foss

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