Review: The Good Girl Effect (Salacious Legacy #1) by Sara Cate

The Good Girl Effect

Author: Sara Cate

Series: Salacious Legacy #1

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Published: September 2, 2025

Source: ARC for review

Jack St. Claire is desperate. A grieving single father, he buries himself in his work—running a brand-new kink club in Paris. Instead of handling his grief, he’s built a fortress around his heart, and it’s time he hired someone to help him take care for his daughter before things get worse.

Camille Aubert wasn’t looking for a new job. She just wanted to return a lost love letter she’d found within the pages of a book. But when she’s mistaken for a job candidate and hired as Jack’s live-in nanny, something tells her this is exactly where she needs to be.

Shortly after arriving, Camille discovers a strange room in the apartment that sparks her curiosity—and hints at a dark, mysterious side to Jack that she’s desperate to uncover. The lines between professional and personal blur dangerously as the heat between them becomes impossible to ignore. She’s drawn to the broken man who hides his grief in ropes and bondage, and she challenges him in ways he never thought possible.

Caught between her growing feelings for Jack and the ghosts of his past, Camille must can love heal a heart still grieving, or will their passion destroy them both?

Review: Forever Yours (Amber Falls #2) by Rachael Heinan & Kimberly Metcalf

Forever Yours

Author: Rachael Heinan & Kimberly Metcalf

Series: Amber Falls #2

Publisher: First For Romance

Published: 1/14/2025

Source: ARC for review

Gabriel Atwood was in love. At least that’s what he thought, until his mystery woman disappeared after one steamy night together.

Devlin Watkins, the mystery woman, wanted no entanglements. She was leaving town and the less she knew about him the better. That is, until she landed in his hometown of Amber Falls, Massachusetts. Devlin was shocked when she spotted her one night stand in Amber Falls and stunned when she found out he was the brother of her best friend's boyfriend.

Gabe and Devlin each own a store on the famed Amber Falls Main Street, separated by a small art gallery, and both have dreams of expanding their businesses. When the owner of the gallery decides to retire, it goes up for sale and an obsolete town bylaw pits them against each other. Will Gabe and Devlin let business come between them, or will they realize the only obstacle they need to overcome is figuring out what their hearts want?

Review: His Wicked Ways (The Wickeds: Dark Knights at Bayside #5) by Melissa Foster

His Wicked Ways

Author: Melissa Foster

Series: The Wickeds: Dark Knights at Bayside #5

Publisher: World Literary Press

Published: November 8, 2023

Source: arc for review

Blaine Wicked is used to women doing as he says in and out of the bedroom. Find out happens when he falls for the one woman who won’t submit to his wicked ways in the newest insanely sexy, deeply emotional, and laugh-out-loud funny standalone romance by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Blaine Wicked can spot trouble a mile away. As the eldest of five and raised in a Dark Knights biker family, he has always been a protector. Rescuing a stripper from a bad situation comes with the territory, regardless of the hell the mouthy, slightly awkward, and seriously hot leggy blonde gives him for it. She’s far too innocent to bend to his wicked ways, but the more he learns about her, the harder it is for him to walk away.

Forensic scientist Reese Wilder never imagined herself as the entertainment at a bachelor party, but she’d do anything to keep food on the table for her teenage sister. With their mess of a mother in rehab—Third time’s a charm, right?—Reese is stuck paying off their mother’s debt to a dealer and trying to make ends meet. Reese has had it rough, and she knows better than to rely on anyone for help, much less a pushy biker with piercing blue eyes who probably has dozens of women at his beck and call.

The more flames Reese throws, the more determined Blaine is to walk through them. The closer he gets, the hotter they burn—and the more curious she becomes. But Blaine Wicked has the power to torch Reese’s walls to embers, and with her sister’s well-being at stake, that’s a risk she can’t afford to take.

Review: Make Me Fall (Fallbank #1) by Cass Scotka

Make Me Fall

Author: Cass Scotka

Series: Fallbank #1

Publisher: Totally Bound

Published: July 18, 2023

Source: ARC for review

Love in a logging town can make anyone fall.

Life in Fallbank, Oregon, is simple and quiet, exactly how Bridget Wildes likes it. She has other things to focus on, like hustling to keep her family store from closing. The age-old rumor that her family is descended from witches makes not getting run out of town difficult enough. She has no time for love, friends or distractions. And the new lumberjack in town is most definitely a distraction.

Jack Thompson has yet to meet a woman who didn’t want his money more than him, so why bother dating? He needs to stay focused on researching whether Timber Logging Company would be a good investment for his family’s business. Who cares if his shy new neighbor is gorgeous and could use a little assistance in how to grow her shop’s profits? After all, his father’s plans include buying out TLC and putting the locals out of work—not boosting Fallbank’s economy.

How can Bridget love someone who’s determined to destroy her small-town way of life? How can Jack dismantle Fallbank when he’s falling in love with not only the way people live there but also Bridget? Well…love and logging will keep anybody on their toes.

Review: Wild Island Love (The Steeles at Silver Island #5) by Melissa Foster

Wild Island Love

Author: Melissa Foster

Series: The Steeles at Silver Island #5

Publisher: World Literary Press

Published: August 2, 2023

Source: ARC for review

Sparks fly between a PR rep and an A-list actor who want nothing to do with each other.

Leni Steele might be looking for love, but she’s definitely not looking to be someone’s fake date. Especially not one of the most infuriatingly handsome and annoyingly cocky actors on the planet, Duncan Raz. But when the owner of the PR firm for which she works forces her to walk the red carpet on his arm, she has no choice. Neither wants to be there, much less with each other. They’re like oil and water, and he gets on her last nerve. But after a few tequila shots, that’s not all he gets on. What was supposed to be one date turns into a media frenzy they can’t afford to ignore, and Leni has no other option than to continue the ruse. All the fake kisses, furtive glances, and seductive touches eventually start to feel very real. But Raz didn’t earn his A-list-actor status for nothing. Is he just doing what he does best? Playing a role? Or is Leni the leading lady in Raz’s real-life love story?

Review: Dove (Emerald Mafia #1) by Jennifer Luna

Dove

Author: Jennifer Luna

Series: Emerald Mafia #1

Publisher: Totally Bound

Published: June 6, 2023

Source: arc for review

He wants to protect her from his world, but her past is their biggest threat.

After the traumatic and mysterious death of a close family friend, Emma Marshall flees the prying eyes in her hometown, opting for the anonymity of Manhattan life. Once there, she buries herself in ramen noodle dinners and rigorous academics. When she’s attacked on the street and issued a strange, veiled threat, she takes her defense into her own hands. But involving herself with a man like Jack is far from safe.

Jack O’Connell thinks of love as a liability. In his line of work, caring for someone would only give his enemies a weakness to exploit. But when Emma walks into his gym for a self-defense lesson, she unknowingly threatens the armor he’s curated. Try as he might, he can’t keep himself away. Their chemistry is electric, and she could be everything that he needs.

As Jack delves into her secrets, he finds they might be somehow connected to his dark world, even though he has fought desperately to protect her from it. To his horror, Emma becomes caught in a sinister web that entraps the two of them, threatening their very lives.

Review: How Sweet It Is (Nantucket Island #1) by Gen Ryan

How Sweet It Is

Author: Gen Ryan

Series: Nantucket Island #1

Publisher: Totally Bound

Published: April 25, 2023

Source: arc for review

Will Lydia and Ty be able to rekindle their relationship? Or will Lydia’s time in the big city spoil the one true love she’s ever had?

Living on the small island of Nantucket might have been the idea of perfection for some, but Lydia Duncan? She craved the big city life. She left behind her family and the man she knew she would have spent the rest of her life with to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.

At twenty-eight, Lydia is a big-shot lawyer, but when her father dies, she’s left with no choice but to go back to the one place she ran away from—home.

Ty Rue watched Lydia walk away but never forgot her. Over the past ten years his love for her has only gotten stronger. Now that she’s home, he’ll do anything he can to make her realize what it’s like to be an island girl and to be in love. Two things that she once did so well.

Will Lydia and Ty be able to rekindle their relationship? Or will Lydia’s time in the big city spoil the one true love she’s ever had?