Welcome to Romance Authors Recommend… where your favorite authors recommend recent reads they loved that you might not have heard about yet!
This week I received recommendations from Paris Wynters, Brenda St. John Brown, and Kate Bateman. Read on to find out which books they loved so much they had to tell us all about them!
Paris Wynters is a contemporary romance author who writes strong heroes and equally strong heroines. She recommends… Salt + Stilettos by Janet Walden-West.
Trading her red-dirt roots for the title of Miami’s go-to image consultant, Brett Fontaine refuses to let anything jeopardize her new life.
…Not an influential client-turned-stalker who’s up for parole…
…Not post-kidnapping panic attacks…
…And certainly not the stubborn, attention-phobic chef with the tempting tataus she’s been challenged to transform into a celeb in ninety days.
Will Te’o can almost taste the dream he sacrificed American Samoa, culture, and cherished family ties for—opening a four-star restaurant in the most cut-throat culinary location in North America.
Unfortunately, that requires navigating its equally ruthless social scene.
When his first public performance ends in a social media spectacle, his only option is turning to the stiletto-wearing nemesis who has invaded his kitchen.
Neither expected to share anything but barbs, yet somewhere between accidentally bonding over comfort food and office-wrecking sex, they’re named South Beach’s hottest pairing!
Until Brett’s stalker engineers an image-shattering reveal and the fallout trashes her reputation. She may be going down, but she’s not taking Will’s dreams with her.
Now Will is pulling out all his new skills and cooking up a last-ditch event. Will it prove to Brett that relying on the right person makes for the perfect recipe? Or will he be left heartbroken in the spotlight?
When I asked Paris why she loved this book she said “it’s diverse, has food, the hero is super sexy and reminds me of Jason Momoa.”
Honestly, she had me at Jason Momoa! If you’d like to learn more about Paris and the books she writes, you can find her at her website or on Instagram!
Next up, meet Brenda St. John Brown! Brenda is a displaced New Yorker living in a tiny English village in the UK, and even after 12 years has to consciously remember to drive on the left. She writes romance to make you giggle and swoon.
Brenda just finished Only You by Marie Landry and had this to say about it… “I absolutely ADORED this book! Ivy is a realistic – and funny – heroine and Hugh is pure book boyfriend material. Add in a Santa’s Village that brought to mind David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries and this book was a total winner for me.”
About Only You… When Ivy reluctantly takes a new part-time job at Santa’s Village, it’s a means to an end. Doing this favor for her pain-in-the-neck roommate means Ivy can have her apartment to herself again much sooner. The last thing she expects is Hugh—the hot Scot who just happens to be her new boss—asking her out on a date. And then another. And another.
Something about Hugh makes Ivy want to let her guard down and open up, which would be perfect if he wasn’t possibly returning to Scotland in a matter of weeks. But maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe Ivy can learn to live in the moment and have a little fun, even if it means setting herself up for heartache later.
ONLY YOU is a standalone contemporary romance about taking chances, unexpected friendships, and holding on to the things—and people—that matter most.
Aw, who could turn down a hot Scot? Not me!
To find out more about Brenda and her laugh-out-loud rom-coms, you can catch up to her on her website or find her on Facebook!
Our final recommendation comes from one of my fellow Romance Chicks, Kate Bateman. Kate Bateman / K. C. Bateman, is the #1 bestselling author of Regency and Renaissance historical romances. Her books feature feisty, intelligent heroines, (badasses in bodices!) wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to strangle and kiss.
She recommends As You Desire by Connie Brockway.
A rake in tarnished armor…
Desdemona Carlisle has spent most of her young life dreaming of a knight in shining armor. When a dashing figure in midnight-black riding a snow-white steed comes to rescue her from the ruffians who have kidnapped her, she believes her destiny has finally arrived. She surrenders herself to the masked stranger’s embrace only to discover her rescuer is none other than Harry Braxton, the scoundrel who stole her heart when she was just a girl, adding it to his collection of exotic treasures as if it were just another trinket.
Harry Braxton doesn’t want to be any woman’s knight-errant. He plays the role of notorious rake to hide the dangerous secret that has kept him from offering Desdemona his own heart. But his tarnished armor soon begins to crumple beneath the irresistible assault of Desdemona’s sparkling wit, her dazzling beauty, her teasing and tender touch. As a legendary treasure hunter, he never dreamed he’d be forced to give up the most priceless treasure of all.
When Lord Ravenscroft, Harry’s aristocratic cousin, comes courting, Desdemona makes a startling discovery. She might yearn for a hero, but what she really needs is a man—the only man who can fulfill all of her desires…
Kate had this to say about As You Desire… “Ahhh, Harry Braxton, possibly my favorite book boyfriend ever. (Think a Victorian Indiana-Jones. He’s a rogue and a scoundrel and completely delicious.) What’s not to love about this book? There’s an Egyptian setting, a swoon-worthy hero, and a brilliant Egyptologist heroine. There’s humor. Antiquities. Pyramids. Competence porn. And I swear, Harry’s ‘you are my country’ speech to Dizzy is one of the most romantic things ever written. Really. Read it – even if you’re not usually into historical romance; you won’t be disappointed!”
With a glowing recommendation like that form one of my favorite historical authors, I think I’d better check this one out! You can learn more about Kate and her books at her website or on her Facebook page.
Have you read any of this weeks’ recommended books? If so, leave a comment below and let me know!
