The job was simple. Always answer the phone—no exceptions—then solve the caller’s catastrophe as efficiently as possible.
The rules were simpler. They contact you, not the other way around. Never give them your real name, number, or any personal information not required to help a newly single dad keep his head above water. And never, ever get involved with a caller. The Single Dad Hotline exists to provide anonymous support, practical advice, and reassurance—nothing more 📞
Simple, right?
Becker Hayes was not who I was expecting to call during my shift with the Single Dad Hotline. He’s my boss’s boss. In the boardroom he’s rich, powerful, detached—the kind of executive who barely acknowledges her existence. In my calendar he’s the enigmatic one-time kiss I was never supposed to see again, a moment of weakness at an office party that should have stayed forgotten. But on the other end of the phone, he’s vulnerable and reeling from becoming guardian to his young nieces, his carefully controlled world crumbling around him 💼
I’m not thinking straight when I offer him a little help off the books. Not when my mother’s illness is winning the battle and I’d give anything for a distraction from the loneliness. His need mirrors my own—the desperation for human connection, for someone who understands the weight of caring for others when you’re barely holding yourself together. What starts as one rule-breaking favor spirals into something neither of them planned 💕
So when the Single Dad Hotline blows up my life, what’s a girl to do but say yes to everything he’s offering? Becker needs more than hotline advice—he needs partnership, support, and maybe something deeper. And she needs a reason to believe that taking risks on broken, complicated people can lead somewhere beautiful instead of just more heartbreak 🌟
Why this touches the heart: Avery Maxwell weaves grief, hope, and healing into a contemporary romance that feels authentic and emotionally rich. The Single Dad Hotline concept is fresh, the chemistry is electric, and both characters are dealing with real pain that makes their connection all the more powerful.
Recovering from a lengthy illness, Georgina Jeffries is sent to convalesce in the Devonshire home of her father’s cousin. Finding an instant friendship with his daughter, Fleur, the two of them eagerly await a garden party to be held on the fine estate of the young and handsome Duke of Calder. The peaceful countryside offers healing, but it’s the promise of society and new faces that truly lifts her spirits after months of isolation 🌸
But when she first meets him, Georgina is certain that she knows him from somewhere, she just cannot place the handsome man anywhere in her memory. There’s something in his eyes, in the way he watches her, that stirs forgotten feelings and half-remembered moments. The sensation is maddening—like trying to grasp smoke 🎭
Emerson Lockhart is a man with a secret. Now the Duke of Calder, he is painfully aware that he was not always so. And when he meets Miss Georgina Jeffries again after more than ten years, he is relieved to realize that she does not recognize him as the boy who was once a servant in her home—the boy who had once been her only friend during a difficult childhood when other children shunned her 💎
But when the Duke lets his old nickname for her slip, Georgina finds herself spiraling back in time, instantly remembering young Sammy White, the servant boy and childhood friend who had disappeared so suddenly and without explanation so many years before. The revelation shatters everything she thought she knew about class, friendship, and the man standing before her. How did a servant’s son become a Duke? And why did he vanish without saying goodbye? 👑
As a team, can the two of them discover the young Duke’s true origins? And can they, along the way, finally navigate the growing romance which both of them would try to deny? The mystery of his past becomes intertwined with their future, as secrets threaten to tear them apart just when they’ve found each other again 💕
Why this captivates: Bridget Barton creates a Regency romance with genuine mystery at its heart, exploring themes of class, identity, and childhood bonds that transcend social barriers. The reunion of friends-turned-lovers adds emotional depth that elevates this beyond typical historical romance.
With over 6,000 five-star reviews across Amazon and Goodreads, this nearly complete fae fantasy romance series is a must-read for fans of epic fae worlds and forbidden love.
A queen in hiding. Two countries at war. When eighteen-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. Every day is a fight for survival, every moment a risk of her true identity being discovered. The slave markets are brutal, but they’re nothing compared to what awaits her 👑
But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country’s greatest enemy. General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon—a vile creature incapable of love or compassion, the boogeyman that mothers use to frighten children. His name alone inspires terror across the war-torn lands. To fall into his hands should mean certain death 🗡️
With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can’t always be trusted. The Demon isn’t quite what the stories claim, and proximity reveals layers she never expected. He’s still dangerous—perhaps more so because of the complexity she discovers beneath the monster’s mask ⚔️
She’ll have to make a choice. Kill the most feared male on the continent or stay and let a forbidden bond take root. But what will happen when he discovers her secret? The longer she stays, the more the lines blur between enemy and something far more dangerous. When he learns who she really is, will he see her as his prisoner, his enemy—or something neither of them can afford? 💔
What makes this irresistible: J.E. Reed builds a sweeping fae world with political intrigue, enemy-to-lovers tension, and a heroine hiding in plain sight. The massive reader following speaks to the addictive nature of this series—start book one and you’ll be bingeing straight through.
The Spirit of ’74: How the American Revolution Began
Americans know about the Boston Tea Party and “the shot heard ’round the world” at Lexington and Concord, but sixteen crucial months divided these two iconic events—a period that has nearly been lost to history despite being when the revolution actually happened. The Spirit of ’74 fills in this gap in our nation’s founding narrative, showing how in these mislaid months, step by step, real people made a revolution long before anyone fired a shot or signed a declaration. 🇺🇸
After the Tea Party, Parliament not only shut down Boston’s port (devastating the economy) but also revoked the sacred Massachusetts charter that had guaranteed self-governance since 1691—essentially declaring martial law and proving that colonial rights could be erased by decree. Completely disenfranchised, citizens rose up as a body and cast off British rule everywhere except in Boston, where British forces were stationed with orders to suppress rebellion. A Spirit of ’74 initiated the American Revolution through peaceful but radical acts of self-governance, much as the better-known Spirit of ’76 sparked independence two years later. The revolution didn’t begin with violence—it began with ordinary people refusing to obey. ⚖️
Redcoats marched on Lexington and Concord in April 1775 not to start a war but to take back a lost province—Massachusetts had effectively been independent for months, with citizens governing themselves through committees and town meetings while British authority existed only within Boston’s occupied perimeter. They encountered Massachusetts militiamen who had trained for months to protect the revolution they had already made, defending institutions they’d built and autonomy they’d claimed. Between Parliament’s overreach destroying colonial rights, citizens organizing shadow governments, militia training in anticipation of British response, and the months of escalating tension before the first shot, this book reveals that 1774 was the year America became revolutionary. 🔔
What makes this revelatory: Americans knowing Boston Tea Party and shot heard ’round world but sixteen months dividing these iconic events nearly lost to history, The Spirit of ’74 filling gap showing how in mislaid months real people made revolution, after Tea Party Parliament shutting down port and revoking sacred Massachusetts charter, completely disenfranchised citizens rising up as body casting off British rule everywhere except Boston, Spirit of ’74 initiating American Revolution, and Redcoats marching on Lexington and Concord to take back lost province encountering militiamen trained to protect revolution already made.
The gods of Olympus are the most colorful characters of Greek civilization: even in antiquity, they were said to be cruel, oversexed, mad, or just plain silly—Zeus couldn’t keep it in his pants, Hera was vindictive, Ares loved war too much, and Dionysus was perpetually drunk. Yet for all their foibles and flaws, they proved to be tough survivors, far outlasting classical Greece itself and adapting to every culture that encountered them. In Egypt, the Olympian gods claimed to have given birth to pharaohs; in Rome, they led respectable citizens into orgiastic rituals of drink and sex. Under Christianity and Islam they survived as demons, allegories, and planets; and in the Renaissance, they triumphantly emerged as ambassadors of a new, secular belief in humanity. ⚡
Their geographic range, too, has been astounding: in their exile from Greece, the gods and goddesses of Olympus have traveled east to the walls of cave temples in China (where Zeus appears in unexpected forms) and west to colonize the Americas (where Spanish conquistadors found familiar divine patterns in indigenous religions). They snuck into Italian cathedrals disguised as biblical figures, haunted Nietzsche’s philosophy until he went mad, and visited Borges in his restless dreams where they whispered stories he’d rewrite. For beings who supposedly died with paganism, they’ve shown remarkable resilience. 🌍
In a lively, original history, Barbara Graziosi offers the first account to trace the wanderings of these protean deities through the millennia—from their origins in Bronze Age Greece to their current appearances in Marvel movies and Percy Jackson novels. Drawing on a wide range of literary and archaeological sources spanning four thousand years, The Gods of Olympus opens a new window on the ancient world, religion, mythology, and its lasting influence on everything from art to psychology to pop culture. Between surviving religious persecution, adapting to new cultures, inspiring Renaissance artists, and conquering modern entertainment, these immortal gods have earned their immortality. ⚖️
What makes this fascinating: Gods of Olympus as most colorful Greek civilization characters said to be cruel oversexed mad or silly yet tough survivors far outlasting classical Greece, in Egypt claiming to have given birth to pharaohs and in Rome leading citizens into orgiastic rituals, under Christianity and Islam surviving as demons allegories and planets, geographic range astounding traveling east to China cave temples and west to colonize Americas, and Barbara Graziosi offering first account tracing wanderings of protean deities through millennia with literary and archaeological sources opening new window on ancient world religion mythology and lasting influence.
Discover a powerful tool for healing and move forward on the path to emotional and psychological health. Used by trained practitioners around the world, the Mace Method is a powerful tool for emotional healing that is having remarkable effects on people’s lives—results that seem almost impossible until you experience them yourself. In a total departure from conventional counseling that requires months or years of weekly sessions, it does not involve any self-disclosure (you don’t have to relive trauma or explain your past) and requires only one or two therapy sessions, which can even be carried out over the phone without face-to-face contact. 💫
In his compelling new book, John Mace describes the revolutionary concept of Causism and its practical component, the Mace Method—and explains how the unknowingly created negative identities that influence our lives and prevent us attaining our goals (the inner voices that say “you’re not good enough,” “you always fail,” “you don’t deserve happiness”) can be located and dis-created through energy work rather than endless analysis. Based on years of research and study combining quantum physics, ancient wisdom, and practical application, this simple but extraordinarily effective therapy will allow you to regain control of your life and find the real you buried under layers of conditioning. 🌟
Not only can it put you on the path to emotional and psychological health and eliminate the stress that underlies many physical health problems (chronic pain, digestive issues, insomnia often have emotional roots), it can also lead to a marked improvement in your general health, well-being, and confidence. Between understanding how negative identities form in childhood, learning the Mace Method’s process for locating and dissolving them, discovering why traditional talk therapy often reinforces problems rather than solving them, and experiencing rapid transformation without reliving trauma, readers find a path to healing that seems too good to be true—until it works. ✨
What makes this revolutionary: Discovering powerful tool for healing moving forward on emotional and psychological health path, Mace Method used by trained practitioners worldwide having remarkable effects on people’s lives, total departure from conventional counseling not involving self-disclosure requiring only one or two therapy sessions even by phone, John Mace describing revolutionary Causism concept explaining how unknowingly created negative identities preventing goals attainment can be located and dis-created, and simple but extraordinarily effective therapy allowing you to regain life control and find real you eliminating stress and improving health well-being and confidence.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3