bookkspt ARC FEB 5/ The Billionaire's Forbidden Arrangement by Nora Daniels

  Booksprout

 Amazon

One bed.

One fake relationship.

And she has no idea I’m the man she kissed years ago.

I don’t believe in love, then Lena Carter walks back into my life; smart, curvy, stubborn and completely forbidden. 

She looks at me like I’m just another grumpy boss, not the man who still remembers her mouth.

A PR disaster dumps me in a love-obsessed town I loathe.

One photo turns into a fake romance.

One promise turns into nonstop proximity.

I hold her hand for the cameras.

She laughs like she already trusts me, and I hate how badly I want it.

We dance under string lights.

A burst pipe leaves us stranded.

One bed.

Every rule on the floor.

Her nails dig in, my restraint snaps, and the kiss I never forgot crashes into the present.

That’s when I realize I’m already screwed.

The problem is my empire can shut down the town she loves.

And if I choose business over her, I won’t just lose the deal…I’ll ruin the only woman who ever made me believe in love.

Explicit

Novella

Romance Billionaire Romance Fake Reletionship One bed Grumpy Sunshine Secret past connection small town romance forced proximity steamy contemporary romance Billionaire protector Kindle unlimited romance

Hosted by Nora Daniels

Note from the Author

Thank you so much for reviewing! This is a grumpy billionaire / one-bed / fake relationship romance with spice and a guaranteed HEA. Reviews are due during launch week (Feb 5–12), and you’re welcome to copy your Booksprout review straight to Amazon once the book goes live.

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---my 4 Star Review TITLED: 2nd Chances

 Lena Carter is with her friend Tasha on a rooftop Valentine's Day celebration 6 years ago. She doesn't want to be there but her friend convinced her. Lena doesn't like Valentine's Day celebrations but she does meet the mysterious stranger on the rooftop and she boldly kisses him and wishes that it could have gone further.  The stranger is into it too until Tasha suddenly interrupts them. Her brothers Malik and Andre would freak if they knew what almost happened !

 6 years later Lena is back in her hometown of Rosebend working at City Hall for Mayor Chen. She really likes her job and feels like it's a worthy job that's trying to help people. 

Lena is shocked when the man she has to work with is the handsome stranger,  a billionaire named Grant Whitlock !!!  Everyone thinks that they look good together but she's had enough of entitled billionaires. The dual points of view are great !

 Of course a major problem arises for the community project but also creative solutions meets it head on. 

Great Epilogue with a HEA 

 

 

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. 

  

bkfunnel/ Frost Mark (novella) by Seren Wilder

  For any other questions, please contact:
Seren Wilder <seren@serenwilderauthor.com> 

THE MAKING OF THE ICE HUNTER

A Karis Frost Origin Story (Exclusive Novella)

Karis Frost was raised to hunt the monsters the world pretends don’t exist.
Silver-haired. Ice-eyed. Armed since childhood. She’s spent her life tracking vampires, Weres, and anything else with claws and a warrant.

But when the Bureau flags her genetic scan as “anomalous,” everything she knows about herself fractures. Vamps hesitate when they smell her. Weres flinch. And the Bureau wants answers they won’t explain.

Then her closest friend—another hunter—is found brutally murdered in the woods, her heart taken with surgical precision.

The Bureau blames a rogue Were.
The local pack swears innocence.
And Karis knows a lie when she hears one.

Now she’s alone, armed to the teeth, and hunting something that shouldn’t exist… something that smells like her.

If you love gritty heroines, vicious mysteries, and supernatural worlds with sharp edges, meet Karis Frost—before she becomes the legend known as The Ice Hunter.

My 5 Star Review TITLED: It Begins 

Interesting start to this book and as I continued to read it, I was hooked when it kept coming up that Kris didn't smell right !!! Especially the supernaturals picked up on that. And a few others that seemed to be on her side, told her to watch her back.  What an unusual bounty hunter story and it's about a woman. That's something else that I liked about it ! And the woman Bureau Agent Marques proved to be interesting as well, in her warnings to Kris. The man she knew as her Grandad, protected her and taught her from an early age to prepare to hunt bounties.  Everyone seems to recognize her as a FROST without any introduction. Weird !

I loved that phrase The Ice Hunter ! What a great start before going into the full novel !

February 5th)ARC/ Faking It with the Mafia Protector BY Willa Wilde

  Booksprout   Amazon

 Part of: Vegas Vows + Vendettas (5 books)

---

I agreed to a fake marriage with a mafia enforcer.
Falling for him was never supposed to happen.

One spilled coffee turned my world upside down.
Rushing to work, I collided with Matteo Rossi.

His strong, tattooed hands caught me before I fell.
His gun caught my eye before I could breathe.
I ran.
But men like Matteo don’t let go that easily.

He noticed me.
The bruise on my neck.
The fear in my eyes.
The mark left by my violent Bratva ex, his enemy.

That night he’s waiting at the bar where I work.
And his solution is as ruthless as it is protective: marry him.
Fake vows, real protection, and a way for him to get revenge on his rival.

Matteo’s hatred is cold and consuming.
But the moment he touches me, it’s clear revenge isn’t the only thing he craves.

His grip is possessive.
His control is absolute.
I should be terrified. Instead, I’m unraveling.

My Bratva ex won’t back down.
What started as protection has painted a target on everyone I love.

Now Matteo is ready to start a war.

And once a man like him decides you’re his…
There’s no escape without blood.

Explicit

Novel

Romance mafia grumpy/sunshine forced proximity marriage of convenience

Hosted by Willa Wilde Mafia Lovers

Note from the Author

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing 🖤

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----------------MY 5 STAR REVIEW  TITLED: is there more for Matteo & Sierra ? 

 

I loved this story. Yes, it has well written explicit scenes between the main characters and yes there is violence. But still ! Matteo is the violent Enforcer for the Andretti Mafia.  But there is still so much good in him and the Andretti Mafia leader  Don Lorenzo really cares for his people; like family ! Especially his weapon, Matteo Rossi. 

On the other hand Viktor Ilyin is a super duper evil man who is working hand in hand with a Russian Bratva trying to take over the Andretti territory.  They don't care about anyone at all ! They will use whoever they want, even sacrificing their own people.  They are inhuman ! Sierra Dixon was duped into Viktor's net because he was so charming and attentive but after he became abusive and she began to see that he was in a violent Bratva; she dumps him.  But soon learns that no one EVER dumps him and he begins to stalk her because he has always wanted her from the first time he saw her at that bar where she worked.  He turns even  more violent when she continues to resist him.  He sees her with Matteo and becomes enraged !

Sierra is confused and refuses marriage until she can no long when she realizes how dangerous the threat is from Viktor.  Sierra has such a loving family, who are afraid for her especially after Viktor and they don't know all of what she went through. The fun starts when they both start to "caught feelings" for each other. Because they really don't want to get marries..at first.  There are times when Matteo lets her get closer and then shuts her out because he's afraid to put a bigger target on her back.  I loved how tender  he is with his only family; his Ma:Mrs. Rossi. One of my favorite phrases was about how he hated for her at Chemo thinking great he's waiting for poison to cure poison. So true ! Matteo wants Vikto dead in the worst way. He tried to kill him before and is making a new dangerous brain destroying drug that kills. He's killed many of their men and now Matteo just has to wait and draw him out. 

I loved how there was not only dangers but passion, surprises, unexpected betrayal and a smashing finish. All leading up to a Sweet ending.  

 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

kindle/ Claimed by the Outlaw By Rica Lane

  amazon

Book 1 of 7: Broken Halos Motorcycle Club  

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GHPKVC3L

152 pages

Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 19, 2026 

 He’s a scarred ex-soldier.

I’m the city girl he found freezing in the mountain.

He carried me to his bed and told me he’s never letting go.

I thought owning a cabin meant freedom. I didn’t realize it meant staking a claim on Gunnar’s land—and on Oliver himself.

A mountain of muscle and ink, he speaks in growls and lives for the hunt. When he found me lost in a blizzard, he saved me from death… then made it clear: I belong to him now.

And God help anyone who dares cross the line.

He finds me in a blizzard, drags me to safety, then tells me he owns me. No romance, no patience—only possession.

He’ll fix my porch with jagged spikes. He’ll mark my neck so his brothers know I’m taken.

He’s the Vanguard: battle-ready, relentless, dangerous. But when it comes to me, he becomes a different kind of monster—the type who would burn the world to keep me safe.

He calls himself the wolf of the ridge. I’m the only thing he refuses to share.

This is a dirty, high-heat MC mountain man novella you can devour in two hours or less—perfect for a late-night binge, a stolen afternoon, or when you crave all the good stuff (one-bed forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine instalove) without any slow build or filler.

No cheating, no filler drama, just an obsessive MC Alpha Male that will do anything for her.

This Motorcycle Club love story is a stand-alone romance set in Rica Lane's interconnected small town of Pine Valley, which is the perfect place to find your next book boyfriend

 

 

My 5 STAR REVIEW TITLED: Little Bird & Oliver   

 Avery Nolan starts out the story as an orphan who has inherited a cabin in the mountains. Actually it's more like a lean too shack.  It's barely standing as she tries to use ancient, rusty tools she finds. She's freezing but won't give up.  It's the first place she's ever owned. 

Oliver Gunnar is a Vanguard in the motorcycle club  and refused to let her freeze to death. He's a mountain of a man and can see her lips are turning blue. So off to his cabin, his fortress, his sanctuary they go.  He's not happy about it but he won't let her freeze to death.  I loved that at times he called her, Little Bird. That is when he wasn't being gruff with her.  Avery doesn't take long before she isn't afraid of the man, that everyone else fears !

There is another danger developing on the mountain and Gunner and the whole  Motorcycle Club will not stand for it.  He's not the Prez but he is the enforcer for the club. 

Avery ad Oliver get their HEA but there will be more stories about this Club and the danger that is trying to be included on THEIR mountain ! 

bkfunnel/ Still the One by Jem Johnson

  For any other questions, please contact:
Jem Johnson <jemjohnsonwrites@gmail.com>

amazon 

In the second act of life, will she finally come first?

After decades of holding everyone else together, Celia Hart returns to Stillwater Springs burned out and broken-hearted. Her marriage is over, her grown son still needs mothering, and her father’s slipping memory means he needs more help than she can give. The hometown that once felt too small now feels too full of ghosts—especially Bo Porter, the boy next door turned man she never stopped wanting.

Once upon a time, Bo and Celia were inseparable. Until high school turned him into the golden boy: football star, prom king, and boyfriend to the head cheerleader. Celia was the quiet one, the fixer, the friend who faded into the background. And even now, with Bo widowed and her own husband long gone—run back to his first love, no less—she can’t shake the feeling that she’s always been someone’s second choice.

Surrounded by old girlfriends with their own unfinished business, Celia wonders if it’s not too late to choose herself. To love without losing. And to stop surviving long enough to actually live.

Heartfelt, sexy, and full of bone-deep truth, Still the One is a story for every woman who thought she had to earn rest, prove her worth, or carry it all alone. Sometimes, coming home isn’t about starting over—it’s about finally letting yourself belong.

 My 5 Star review TITLED: Living in Celia's Life

Celia Hart is a 44 year old woman who always felt like she was second choice. We get to see her P.O.V. She loves driving and she doesn't want to answer any calls as she does. It's her peaceful time. Besides, she' trying to sneak back into her home town. She's an author and has sold MANY books and is well known just about everywhere as a skilled author.  Most people realize her book series is talking about her hometown. She's driving and listening to a romance fantasy book;  comparing notes in her head, thinking this one was kind of cheesy. She gets pulled over by a policeman after throwing her phone. He claims she was TALKING on her phone and doesn't believe her.  So much for a quiet entrance just her look.

Her ex Greg Naulty is a sleaze, always making her full small with every success she gets !  She finally has had enough and when he runs back to his first love, she says good riddance and gives him the divorce he wants. She realizes once again she was never the first choice !The only good thing that came of that marriage is Zac her half white son.  He always turns to her for help, because his dad was never there for him either. She the one that EVERYONE turns to when something needs fixing ! No wonder she's exhausted !

Her first, true love was Bo Parker, who to her way of thinking ran off and married the snooty, smug, entitled, cunning cheerleader Billie . She maneuvered him and sweet, humble, handsome Bo NEVER saw her coming.  They had some good years together but now she died many years ago.  Bo resents the fact that Celia never came back til now. 

This story was emotional, I could feel Celia's turmoil.  And Bo's as well. It was a great read that just pulled me in !  It also had some surprises too !

 By the way, the eBook cover caught my attention and I'm glad that it did !.

kindle/ Savage Lies: A Bratva Enemies to Lovers Romance (The Empire of Vows #1) by Clara Dunn

  amazon

 Book 1 of 4: The Empire of Vows 

 ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FRYLMW89

391 Pages

Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 4, 2025

I’m falling for the Bratva king I was trained to destroy.

I wake up in a penthouse with no memory, a stranger in my bed, and a husband I don’t remember marrying.

Dmitri Kozlov says I’m his wife. That I was in a terrible accident. That he’s here to protect me.

But the man calling himself my husband is nothing like the gentle partner he pretends to be.

He’s cold. Controlling. Deadly.

And every instinct I have screams run.

But my body doesn’t listen.

It obeys him.

Hungers for him.

Even when I catch glimpses of the truth—the weapons, the violence, the lies—I can’t stop wanting him.

Because underneath the possessive alpha who watches me like I’m his next breath… is a man who’s already mine.

Only I don’t remember why.

Every day brings me closer to the truth.

And when my memories return, I’ll have to decide:

Do I destroy the man who stole my life?

Or stay with the one who might be the only person who ever truly loved me?

Savage Lies is a dark mafia/amnesia romance with a possessive husband, forced proximity, and a heroine torn between revenge and the only man who has ever truly loved her.

Book One in The Empire of Vows series of interconnected mafia romances. Each one follows a new couple and delivers its own HEA, with recurring characters and ongoing world drama that’s best enjoyed in order.

MY 5 STAR REVIEW TITLED:  Revenge or Love?

For one year FSB Agent Katya "Kotyonok" Sidorov  is undercover as Andrea.   She's an art appraiser and her handler Viktor warns her that her target is getting too close to knowing who she is.  It's aleady too late because 6'3' Dmitri Kozlov already knows. He kidnaps her and intends to make her pay. It starts out as revenge but will it stay that way? It does make for a thrilling start and continues to be thrilling and intense.His personal doctor Mikhail Orlov is a former military medic who sure comes in handy for Dmitri and Katya.  

I kept thinking shouldn't they be suspicious of Pavel? I sure was.  He just kept pushing his way in more than he needed to. And Dr. Vikto Petrov? I kept shaking my head at Dmitiri because for a smart Bratva  boss man he sure was careless at times.  But I also know that he cares about Katya even though he doesn't want to.  And what about the memory Dr. Anya ?  Some surprises lay in wait especially about her. 

Katya does some dumb emotional stuff  which irked me but hey she's trying to figure things out !   I get it. .

I liked how everything played out because it really kept my interest all the way ! Dual Points of View get me every time. 

 

 

Review by Feb 07, 2026/Arc Bksprout/ Bound by the Mafia’s Code by Nina Costa

  Booksprout    Amazon

 Hosted by Nina Costa

 Elena Rossi, fiercely loyal daughter of Sicily’s most feared Mafia Don, protects her family’s legacy with more than tradition—she’s the secret hacker known as “the ghost,” locking down their operations from digital threats. In her father’s opulent mansion, Elena’s intelligence and confidence are matched only by her devotion to family. But a new threat is closing in, and this one is far closer than she dares imagine.

Enzo DeLuca, the ambitious Don of New York’s most powerful syndicate, has been on the receiving end of the ghost’s cyber warfare for months. 

Determined to put an end to the attacks, Enzo uncovers her identity and orchestrates a bold extraction. Under the pretense of interfamily business, he infiltrates the Rossi estate just as Elena slips from the opulent meeting room to her hidden tech sanctum. 

With lethal efficiency, Enzo and his men seize her, spiriting her away through concealed corridors to a waiting car. The Rossi family’s security is no match for Enzo’s planning—within hours, Elena is aboard his private jet, drugged for safety, and flown into the glittering unknown of New York City.

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My 5 Star Review TITLED: Caught me off guard

Elena Rossi (The Ghost) is playing the role of the Don's sweet, compliant daughter at the event.  Enzo DeLuca from New York enters the ballroom not impressed with the Sicilian party. But people see him and make way instantly for him; most without realizing they recognize his authority. But Enzo doesn't care because he's on a carefully planned mission to snatch Elena.  He and his team work smoothly and get her out of there and back to his place in New York. She's not happy when she waked from being drugged but she's already plotting ! She's dangerous too. And she's tired of being underestimated, controlled, contained and of people trying to make her smaller. She's not. She's dangerous too !  

Enzo is a man of few words. He isn't aftaid of silence; he know that it holds power of it's own. And he's holding a lot of secrets from Elena and she just won't stand for that for long. . He can already see her mapping the room, the house, exits, cameras.  I really liked Enzo he was a different kind of Mafia Don. A lot different that her father the Don.  It still takes a LONG time for any trust to develop between them. But they need to hurry up about that because they have a clever enemy inside the works. I don't trust her cousin Marco, who is close to her father. He's almost like the son he doesn't have and influencing him more than he should be able to. 
What caught me off balance for a while was all the computer speak. It made me  uncomfortable at first because I didn't understand what was going on. Well at least at first !

But the story was really good and I got used to the writing style of this author and things began to get really intense with betrayals, the precision and alignments.  

I really enjoyed the dual points of view and how the story worked out in the end. 

 I  received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.