Snuggle up in front of a blazing fire with your favorite quilt and a piping mug of hot chocolate as you delve into this sweet holiday romance that’s perfect for the season. On the other hand, forget the hot chocolate or it will end up coming out your nose from all the chuckling and laughing you’re going to do at the workplace comedy and romantic mishaps. Kylie Dennis, one of the top sales associates for the department store where she works with commissions that support her family, has given up on men after too many disappointing experiences. Not a one can live up to her standards and they’re not even that high: be an interesting, kind person whose main goal in talking to her isn’t to get her into bed with him within the first conversation. 🎄
When the H.R. department asks her to work in appliances for a couple of weeks until Christmas to cover for staff shortages, she seethes at the inconvenience of leaving her territory. She’s always worked in women’s apparel where she knows the products and the customers, and knows nothing about appliances except that they’re expensive and complicated. But then she begins to see the manager of appliances, Michael, in a different light than the distant colleague she’d barely noticed before. He’s kind in quiet ways that don’t demand recognition, fun to be around in a way that feels comfortable rather than performative, and handsome in an understated way she’s never appreciated. 💕
She lets her feelings for him grow despite her resolution to avoid men entirely. Until the day she catches him kissing one of the temporary sales associates in the break room, shattering her growing trust. Oh how she would love to drop him from her life immediately and transfer back to women’s apparel where she belongs. Except for two things that make escape impossible: she needs to keep working in appliances in order to earn more commissions due to a family crisis that requires money she doesn’t have, and she drew Michael’s name during the annual staff Secret Santa meeting that happens before the kissing incident. Emily Josephine launches Christmas Sisters with sweet holiday romance about workplace misunderstandings and Secret Santa obligations. 🎅
What makes this essential: A sweet holiday romance launching Christmas Sisters where top sales associate Kylie Dennis has given up on men whose main goal is getting her into bed—seething when H.R. asks her to work in appliances until Christmas, but beginning to see manager Michael in a different light as kind, fun, and handsome until catching him kissing a temporary sales associate, wanting to drop him except she needs appliances commissions for a family crisis and drew his name for the annual staff Secret Santa meeting.
Where the fae and human realms meet in small-town France, reality gets complicated. Same old sleepy small-town existence for me—I spend my days serving patisserie badly to the outlandish crowd at the café where my incompetence with croissants is tolerated, and writing folklore research papers in my spare time that will never, ever be published because academia doesn’t take my theories about fae seriously. That’s until my clanger of a drunken hookup with the town’s hot new doctor turns into a nightmare when he transforms into a hideous drac and eats Grampi’s favourite goat in front of me, proving that all my folklore research was documenting reality rather than mythology. 🧚
Oh and not to mention in the chaos that follows, a troop of ragtag fae storms my home demanding I help them with problems I don’t understand, a fatal illness devastates the town with symptoms that match ancient descriptions of fae curses, and a mysterious affliction threatens Grampi’s life specifically because of his connection to me. I may be having trouble accepting this new and delightful side of reality that contradicts everything I thought I knew about the world, but my knowledge of folklore means I have a shot at sorting this whole mess out before the town and everything I love is destroyed by forces bleeding through from the fae realm. 📚
The only thing is I’ll have to work with the devious scumbag doctor who’s still picking goat out of his teeth and acting like eating Grampi’s livestock is no big deal. And he just might be the biggest challenge of all—not the fae invasion, not the curse, not the illness killing townspeople—but him with his secrets and his transformation abilities and his complete lack of remorse about the goat situation. Karenza Grant launches The Folkloric Series with urban fantasy where folklore research becomes survival guide when the veil between realms tears and small-town France becomes ground zero for fae chaos that only a badly-employed café worker who writes unpublishable papers can solve. ✨
What makes this essential: An urban fantasy launching The Folkloric Series where sleepy small-town France café worker serves patisserie badly and writes unpublishable folklore research papers—until a drunken hookup with the hot new doctor who transforms into a hideous drac and eats Grampi’s favourite goat proves her research documented reality, as ragtag fae storm her home, fatal illness devastates the town, and a curse threatens Grampi’s life, forcing her to work with the devious scumbag doctor still picking goat from his teeth to sort out the mess before everything she loves is destroyed.
I’ve been sucked through a portal into faery along with five of the sexiest supernatural men I’ve ever encountered. Now we have to work together to solve a series of puzzles before time runs out and consequences nobody’s explained become permanent. I’m a failed mage who’s been hiding out from the supernatural community for years, pretending to be mundane because my magic is broken in ways I can’t fix or explain to anyone. When a hot demi-god from my academy days shows up on my doorstep—Emrys, who I had a massive crush on back when I was still attending classes—calling in a favor I owe him, I can’t refuse even though every instinct screams this is dangerous. But one look at him and those memories of what I felt years ago come flooding back, and I kinda don’t want to refuse anyway despite the risks. 🔮
I love my mundane life with its predictability and lack of magical disasters, but I’ve sorely missed my magical community—the sense of belonging, the shared understanding, the casual use of power I can’t safely access anymore. Plus keeping my broken magic secret means my dating options are nonexistent because I can’t risk anyone getting close enough to discover the truth. What could it hurt to spend a few hours dipping my foot back into the supernatural pool for future fantasy material and maybe seeing if that spark with Emrys still exists? When my negotiation with the grudge-holding fae Taneisha goes catastrophically south because I can’t help but be honest when lying would be smarter, what I’d thought would take a couple of hours suddenly turns into a multi-day quest through faery realms. 💫
If we fail the challenges Taneisha has set, the men’s heirloom legacies will be destroyed—objects of power passed down through generations that define their family identities. I have no idea what she’ll do to me if we fail but maybe these new marks appearing on my shoulders are connected to my punishment? Hell’s bells! The first legacy on the line belongs to the panther shifter Marcos and we’re on the clock. We’re on the clock and my magic is bursting under the stress in ways I can’t control, which never works out well and usually ends in explosions. How am I supposed to keep my broken magic hidden from these five men especially when they’re so protective and attentive, never taking their eyes off me like I’m precious rather than defective? At any moment I could slip up and show my magic for what it is: erratic, unstable, and dangerous. But I must keep my power in check or I’ll risk the wrath of my family when the secret is revealed to the supernatural community I’ve been hiding from. Candice Bundy and Piper Fox launch Stolen Legacy with paranormal romance about broken magic, fae bargains, and five supernatural men. ✨
What makes this essential: A paranormal romance launching Stolen Legacy where failed mage hiding from the supernatural community with broken magic gets sucked through a portal into faery with five sexy supernatural men including hot demi-god Emrys from her academy days—what should take hours becomes multi-day quest when negotiation with grudge-holding fae Taneisha goes south, forcing them to solve puzzles before time runs out or the men’s heirloom legacies are destroyed, but her magic bursts under stress as these protective, attentive men never take their eyes off her while she must keep her erratic, unstable, dangerous power hidden or risk family wrath.
NEW RELEASES
From a childhood shaped between cultures to the ruthless world of pageantry and television, from public triumphs to private shattering, from legal warfare to forced exile, Maggie Wilson reveals a story far more powerful than the headlines ever captured. Behind the cameras and crowns was a woman fighting battles most people never saw—and surviving storms that were never meant to be public. *The Confidence Blueprint* is Maggie’s debut book, not a full memoir but a collection of pivotal stories throughout her life, each one a lesson shaped by experience, loss, rebuilding, and the unrelenting pursuit of truth when the world wanted her silenced. 👑
This is the truth behind the glamour: a raw, unfiltered journey through betrayal, resilience, motherhood, injustice, and the quiet strength required to rise when your world is taken from you. This is not a tale of perfection. It is a chronicle of survival. A testimony of a woman who refused to disappear when powerful forces wanted her erased. A guide for anyone who has been silenced, shamed, underestimated, or broken open by life—yet rises anyway. 💪
Confidence isn’t born in the spotlight. It’s forged in the fire. It’s not about being unbreakable—it’s about learning to rise after you’ve been broken. Maggie Wilson delivers motivational self-help examining how pageant queens and television personalities are real women fighting real battles, and whether public success can coexist with private suffering when the world only wants to see the crown. This is not inspiration porn—it’s a blueprint for building confidence from the rubble of everything you’ve lost. 🔥
What makes this essential: Maggie Wilson’s debut motivational self-help book—not a full memoir but pivotal stories from childhood between cultures through pageantry, television, public triumphs, private shattering, legal warfare, and forced exile—revealing raw truth behind the glamour as a woman who refused to disappear, offering a blueprint for anyone silenced, shamed, or broken to learn that confidence isn’t born in the spotlight but forged in fire and rising after being broken.
For fans of *The Social Network* and *Moneyball*, *Power Soak* tells the true story of an MIT engineer who helped shape the sound of arena rock and took on the most powerful man in the music business. In the 1970s, Tom Scholz built Boston’s sound in his basement studio, fusing engineering precision with soaring melody to create the clean, explosive guitar tone that made “More Than a Feeling” a hit and defined an era. His studio inventions—custom-built amplifiers and effects that other engineers said were impossible—spread to Journey, Def Leppard, and The Cars, bringing his signature guitar tone to many of the defining albums of classic rock’s golden age. 🎸
But when Scholz refused to hand over his own record, *Third Stage*, until it met his exacting standards that nobody else seemed to understand or appreciate, CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff declared war. Royalties were cut off. Lawsuits piled up. The band splintered. And Scholz sank further into isolation in his basement laboratory, perfecting sounds nobody would hear while his career burned. Then two rival power brokers—Irving Azoff and David Geffen, titans of the music industry—entered the fray, racing to pry loose Boston’s long-awaited album which would become one of the last blockbusters of the classic-rock era. 💿
Brendan Borrell delivers arts short read examining obsession, perfectionism, and whether artists owe the world their work or only the version that meets their standards. This is *The Social Network* for classic rock—the story of an engineer who revolutionized guitar tone, fought the music industry’s most powerful executives, and proved that sometimes the pursuit of the perfect sound is worth losing everything else. 🎵
What makes this essential: An arts short read for fans of *The Social Network* and *Moneyball* where MIT engineer Tom Scholz built Boston’s sound in his basement, fusing precision with melody to create “More Than a Feeling” and spreading his signature guitar tone to Journey, Def Leppard, and The Cars—until refusing to release *Third Stage* before meeting his exacting standards sparked war with CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff as rival power brokers Irving Azoff and David Geffen raced to pry loose the album.
All I wanted was a fresh start. I didn’t expect to wind up in handcuffs my first day in town. I left the familiar hustle and bustle of New York for a tiny Ohio town called Bordeaux—a place where people wave from their porches and everyone knows what you had for breakfast before you’ve even finished eating it. I expected quiet streets, maybe a parking complaint or two, adjusting to small-town life where nothing happens. What I did not expect was becoming the talk of the town before I even drove my first patrol down Main Street due to a misunderstanding that will apparently follow me forever. 🚔
And then there’s Officer Jesse Heinz—local boy, introverted to the point of painful, and kind in a way that sneaks up on you when you’re not paying attention. He’s this unexpected combination of steadiness and occasional awkwardness that shouldn’t be charming but somehow is. He can rattle off citations like a spitfire rapper when necessary, making traffic violations sound like poetry, and yet his quiet warmth keeps catching me off guard in moments when I need it most. I figured I could handle being partnered with Jesse, that we’d maintain professional distance and cordial working relationship. 💙
Turns out—like the rest of this town—I underestimated him completely. Because Bordeaux, Ohio is not what I expected. And neither is falling for my partner. Savannah Scott delivers relationship humor examining what happens when big-city cop meets small-town sensibilities, when professional partnerships become personal, and when a fresh start means starting to see things you never noticed before—like how introverted kindness can be more attractive than extroverted charm. 😊
What makes this essential: A relationship humor romance launching Getting Shipped! where leaving New York’s hustle for tiny Ohio town Bordeaux seeking a fresh start ends with handcuffs her first day, becoming the talk of town before her first patrol—partnered with introverted local Officer Jesse Heinz whose steadiness, awkwardness, and quiet warmth catch her off guard as she underestimates both him and Bordeaux while falling for her partner in this small town where everyone knows what you had for breakfast.