Camilla would rather be elbows deep defusing a bomb than deal with her feelings. But civilian life is messy, and it’s all she’s got after one slip up almost sent her home from her last tour in a body bag. Now she debugs lines of code by day, a far cry from the adrenaline-fueled missions that once defined her. At night, she runs an online message board for vets, creating a safe space for those struggling with the same transition she’s barely managing herself 💻

There’s also West—a retired SEAL who’s become her online gaming buddy. They spend hours geeking out and trash talking until all hours, their virtual friendship a lifeline neither wants to examine too closely. It’s not what you think—just two warriors finding comfort in pixelated battles instead of real ones. But now West wants to meet in person, and Camilla hasn’t let her guard down with anyone in years. She’s not even sure she remembers how 🎮

West is struggling too. Six years after leaving the teams, the cold-sweat nightmares are only getting worse, not better like everyone promised they would. But Cam’s irreverent mouth and uncanny ability to quiet his demons are welcome distractions from the darkness that stalks him. She makes him laugh when he thought he’d forgotten how 🌙

After one date, West is on fire for more—he’s ready to pursue something real with this complicated, brilliant woman who understands his scars without needing explanations. But when he’s forced to take on a risky rescue mission to save his dojo, Cam retreats behind her keyboard with her secrets locked away. He’s willing to lay it all on the line to prove that broken can be beautiful, that their jagged edges might fit together perfectly. But she has to show him her raw edges first and trust they’re a perfect match for his 💔

What makes this irresistible: Patricia D. Eddy delivers a romance that honors the unique challenges veterans face while celebrating the unexpected places they find healing—from gaming controllers to honest vulnerability with someone who truly gets it.

They say Iceland is cold, but with seven men warming her bed, Sasha Snow has never felt more heat. She came to Iceland as a scientist, not a plaything, armed with credentials and research goals that should have commanded respect. Instead, her jealous boss Queenie has made this research trip a living hell, undermining her at every turn while her coworker Hunter can’t stop staring with an intensity that makes her skin crawl ❄️

When Sasha ventures out alone during a blizzard—a decision born of frustration and the need to prove herself—she nearly dies in the whiteout conditions. Instead, she wakes up in what feels like paradise: a luxury cabin with seven men who make Hunter look like a boy playing at being a man. These aren’t just any men—they’re specimens of masculine perfection, each one offering something uniquely intoxicating 🔥

Dan leads them with quiet authority that makes Sasha weak at the knees, the kind of command presence that has her following orders she never knew she wanted to obey. Graham watches with hungry eyes that undress her slowly, savoring every reveal. Bash tends to her with a gentleness that belies his considerable strength, while Harry, Seth, Stevie, and Jim each bring their own brand of irresistible to their arrangement. An arrangement that quickly crosses every professional boundary Sasha thought she had 💋

As the snow piles higher outside, trapping them all together, Sasha discovers these “drillers” have expertise far beyond what they initially claimed. Their knowledge of her research is too detailed, too precise—their interest in her both professionally and personally too convenient. Suddenly she’s caught in a dangerous web of corporate secrets and personal betrayal, with a vengeful boss plotting her downfall and seven pairs of hands that make thinking clearly utterly impossible 🌨️

Why this grips from page one: Nicole Casey delivers a steamy complete series that combines corporate intrigue with scorching reverse harem romance, where every revelation raises the temperature and the stakes in equal measure.

England, September 1642. The King has raised his standard in Nottingham, calling all loyal subjects to take up arms against his own Parliament. The nation stands on the brink of civil war, with brother soon to face brother on the battlefield. Into this powder keg steps Gideon Lennox, an idealistic young lawyer from London who believes in justice, order, and the power of words over swords ⚔️

Gideon is in County Durham being paid to find a man and deliver a message—a seemingly simple task that has already proven more complicated than anticipated. Having failed in the original assignment that brought him north, he desperately needs to prove himself worthy of the fee he’s been paid. The man he seeks is Philip Lord, a notorious mercenary commander whose reputation for brutality was earned in the blood-soaked wars raging across Europe. Lord is the kind of man respectable lawyers like Gideon typically avoid 📜

But when Gideon finally encounters the infamous mercenary, the meeting doesn’t go as expected. Instead of simply delivering his message, Gideon finds himself abducted and transported to a remote Weardale village where strange and unsettling events have the locals whispering of witchcraft. Lord has a proposition: investigate these mysterious happenings, clear the accused women, and unmask the real culprit 🕯️

As Gideon attempts to uncover the truth behind the accusations—and the brutal murder of the witchfinder sent to Pethridge—he faces more questions than answers. His legal training proves both asset and liability in a world where superstition and fear trump evidence. He’s convinced Lord must somehow be involved in the dark events, his presence too convenient to be coincidental. But then a gory discovery shatters all his assumptions, proving that neither the accused women nor the mercenary are behind the sinister occurrences plaguing the village 🌙

What makes this essential: Eleanor Swift-Hook launches her Lord’s Legacy series with a riveting blend of historical authenticity and mystery, where a lawyer’s faith in reason collides with the dangerous realities of a nation descending into chaos.

Five years lost. One town kidnapped. A world that wants him dead. The Librarian wakes to find Eden completely empty—every single soul vanished without a trace, leaving only eerie silence where a thriving community once stood. But that’s not even the worst part of his nightmarish awakening. He’s been gone for five years, trapped in another dimension while the post-apocalyptic world has crowned him history’s greatest villain 📚

The antichrist who tried to prevent Armageddon has become the perfect scapegoat for humanity’s nuclear devastation. With a massive bounty on his head and the mysterious King’s Council ruling over the ruins of what used to be America, he must navigate a treacherous landscape filled with mutant lizards, demon wardens, and desperate survivors who would happily collect the reward for his capture—or his head. Finding the truth becomes a matter of survival: Eden’s citizens are imprisoned somewhere, subjects of a mad scientist’s twisted experiments to create a superhuman race 🔥

Armed with his considerable wits, his loyal hellhound Fluffy (who’s more intimidating than adorable), and questionable help from his dysfunctional demon family, the Librarian must plan and execute an impossible prison break. The captives are being held in the depths of Carlsbad Caverns, a location that’s as secure as it is hostile, guarded by forces both human and otherwise. Every step of the rescue mission could be his last, but he’s never been one to let impossible odds stop him 👹

Even if he succeeds in freeing Eden’s people, he’ll face his most dangerous enemy yet—a self-proclaimed king determined to remake the world in his own twisted image. This megalomaniac has vision, resources, and an army at his disposal, plus the backing of survivors who believe the Librarian is responsible for everything that’s gone wrong. It’s hard to save a world that wants you dead, especially when you’re not entirely sure you deserve redemption 💀

Why this deserves your attention: Brian Yansky delivers a wildly inventive blend of dark humor and apocalyptic adventure where the hero is literally the antichrist, proving that sometimes the villain of one story is the reluctant hero of another.

Red O’Brien and Billy Don Craddock are just finishing up a construction project for one of their regular customers, expecting nothing more than a paycheck and maybe a cold beer, when their client makes an unexpected request. He needs help regaining custody of his beloved beagle, Teddy—and he’s willing to pay for assistance of the creative variety 🔨

What should be a straightforward matter of retrieving a dog quickly becomes something far more complicated, because in Blanco County, nothing is ever quite as simple as it seems. Red and Billy Don have handled plenty of odd jobs over the years, but this canine custody battle requires a special touch. The way they go about reuniting man and beagle is absolutely a howl, combining small-town ingenuity with just enough rule-bending to make things interesting 🐕

Ben Rehder has built his reputation on comic mysteries that capture the quirky charm of Texas Hill Country, and this short story delivers all the humor and heart his fans expect. As an Edgar, Shamus, and Barry Award finalist, Rehder knows how to balance laughs with genuine stakes, creating characters you’d want to share a beer with while they’re committing misdemeanors for a good cause 🍺

The Blanco County series has earned spots on best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and even Field & Stream—proof that Rehder’s blend of crime, comedy, and Texas authenticity resonates across audiences. Red and Billy Don are the kind of friends who’ll help you move a couch or stage an elaborate dog heist, whichever the situation requires 🎯

Why I’m including this: Rehder serves up a perfectly bite-sized taste of his acclaimed Blanco County mysteries, offering laugh-out-loud humor and endearing characters in a story that proves sometimes the best crimes are committed for the love of a good dog.

Welcome to gentle Juliana, where you can have it all—if you’re willing to pay the price. The email that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe, almost too good to be true. For just $100, she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic’s devastation. It’s an escape route from her cramped New York City rental and the painful memories of shuttering her once-thriving restaurant, a dream that died slowly and publicly 🏚️

She can start over with her husband Peter and their six-year-old daughter Meredith, building a new life in a place that promises fresh beginnings. Even better, she’ll receive a business grant to open a new restaurant in this charming riverside community supposedly laden with opportunity. The Juliana Initiative sells itself as a win-win, a chance to rebuild everything the pandemic destroyed. A few hurried phone calls and one whirlwind visit later, and Billie, Peter, and Meredith are officially part of this small-town renaissance 🌳

The town delivers on its promises at first—two hours northwest of Atlanta but feeling like a world away from city living, a “gentle jewel” with weather as warm as its people claim to be. Between settling into their lavish Victorian home and launching her new restaurant, Billie stays busy enough to dismiss the troubling signs that begin appearing almost immediately. The way conversations stop when she enters rooms. The strange rules nobody mentioned during the sales pitch. The intense interest the town elders take in every aspect of her family’s life 👁️

But Billie’s sleep becomes marred by haunting dreams that feel more like memories of things that never happened, and her marriage with Peter grows increasingly strained under pressures she can’t quite name or understand. The town elders—all descended from Juliana’s founding families—exert a level of influence that feels less benevolent and more suffocating with each passing day. Their “suggestions” carry the weight of commands, and their concern for the community borders on obsession. What seemed like a devil’s bargain is revealing itself to be exactly that, and Billie begins to wonder what price Juliana will ultimately demand for the life it promised 🕯️

What makes this essential: Emily Carpenter crafts a chilling thriller that transforms small-town charm into claustrophobic dread, exploring what happens when desperate people accept offers that seem too good to be true—because they always are.

What if humanity’s next stage of evolution wasn’t discovered through natural selection or random mutation, but deliberately engineered by someone with the vision and resources to rewrite the fundamental rules of existence? Elliot Voss spent decades pursuing a singular, obsessive vision that most dismissed as the fantasy of a mad billionaire. But Voss wasn’t mad—he was methodical, brilliant, and utterly committed to transforming what it means to be human 🧬

In secret laboratories hidden from government oversight and public scrutiny, the billionaire futurist achieved the impossible. First, he cured disease, eliminating the genetic flaws and cellular breakdowns that plague humanity. Then he cured aging itself, unlocking the biological mechanisms that could grant indefinite lifespan. These achievements alone would have made him the most important person in human history. But Voss wasn’t finished. Then he vanished, disappearing from the public eye just as his work reached its culmination 🌟

Now, without warning to anyone except a carefully chosen few who received cryptic invitations, the world is preparing for a transformation so complete it will redefine civilization itself. The System will overlay the entire planet, bringing real stats, real levels, and three distinct paths to evolution: Combat Class for those who fight, Profession for those who build, and Race for those who transcend humanity entirely. But this isn’t a game with respawns and do-overs. This is permanent, irreversible, and no one—not even the global elite with their wealth and connections—is exempt from what’s coming ⚡

As a handpicked team enters the first Tutorial shard, a training ground designed to prepare them for impossible challenges, they must race against time to ready Earth for its eventual induction into The System. The stakes couldn’t be higher: failure means humanity faces The System unprepared, which would be catastrophic. But Voss didn’t just want humanity to become stronger, faster, more powerful. He wanted it to become wiser, more compassionate, truly worthy of the extraordinary gifts about to be bestowed. In the end, no one will remain unchanged—the only question is whether humanity will rise to meet its potential or crumble under the weight of transformation 🔮

Why this deserves your attention: Lucent Steele launches The Ascension Framework series with a thought-provoking blend of LitRPG mechanics and philosophical exploration, asking whether power without wisdom is just another path to destruction—perfect for readers who want their system apocalypse with substance.

For the first time ever, the complete four-book Locker Nine series is available in a single box set—a #1 bestseller in both the post-apocalyptic and dystopian genres that delivers relentless tension from the first page to the last. When Grace left home for college, her parents were deeply concerned about the deteriorating state of their world. They made absolutely sure she had the supplies, training, and mental preparation to stay safe if the worst happened. They taught her to think tactically, to trust her instincts, to never give up. Then the worst actually happened 🎒

A determined young woman and a dangerously disturbed young man clash in the apocalyptic aftermath of coordinated nationwide terror attacks that transform America into a lawless hellscape overnight. Grace’s dad spent years teaching her survival skills and self-defense techniques, then sent her away to college hoping desperately she’d never need to use any of it. All he wanted was to give his daughter a fighting chance if something catastrophic ever happened to her. The fact that he felt this level of preparation was necessary speaks volumes about the world they already lived in 💪

Near the end of Grace’s freshman year, those worst-case scenarios become horrifying reality. Coordinated terror attacks strike dozens of locations simultaneously across the country—including directly on the campus of Grace’s university, turning her safe academic bubble into a war zone in seconds. Grace and her father barely have time for one rushed, desperate phone call before all communications go dark. Cell towers fail, internet dies, and suddenly Grace is completely cut off from everyone she loves 📱

With her terrified roommate in tow, Grace embarks on a treacherous journey home through a country that’s descending into chaos with terrifying speed. She ends up in the crosshairs of another desperate traveler—a seriously disturbed gamer who sees nothing but opportunity in a world that now resembles his favorite post-apocalyptic video games. For him, the collapse of civilization isn’t a tragedy; it’s the ultimate gaming experience, and other survivors are just NPCs in his twisted narrative. Grace will need every skill her father taught her and reserves of strength she didn’t know she possessed to survive the journey home and the predator who’s decided she’s his next objective 🎮

What makes this a must-read: Franklin Horton delivers a complete four-book series that examines how quickly civilization can crumble and what happens when those who prepared for the worst face those who see catastrophe as entertainment—gripping post-apocalyptic fiction that doesn’t pull punches.

Berlin, 1944. “It is a great honour to have you here, Herr Hitler.” Lili doesn’t stumble over the lie, her hand perfectly steady as she pours champagne into crystal glasses. Everything must be flawless, every detail beyond reproach—no one can suspect a thing. One wrong word, one trembling hand, one moment of hesitation could mean death for her, her husband, and their beloved little girl. Lili Rodenberg and her husband Marius run the Edel, Berlin’s most glamorous hotel, a sanctuary of elegance in a city being torn apart by war 🏨

For the Edel’s wealthy guests, it’s an escape from the destruction raging outside—a place where they can still pretend civilization exists, where the elegant piano bar plays on and fine amber brandy flows freely despite the rationing that’s starving everyone else. But Lili carries a secret so dangerous that discovery would mean immediate execution: she’s Jewish, a truth she’s terrified will end in unspeakable tragedy for everyone she loves. Every day is a high-wire act of deception, every interaction with Nazi officers a test of her nerves 💎

Lili’s only choice is to hide in plain sight, maintaining her perfect facade while her heart races each time uniformed officers step through the Edel’s grand entrance. As Berlin transforms into a more frightening place with each passing month, as the war turns against Germany and desperation breeds even greater cruelty, Lili pleads with Marius to help shelter others in danger. But her husband is adamant: he will not risk the lives of his wife and daughter for strangers. Their safety must come first. Until the day Marius is called to the front—and goes missing in action, leaving Lili alone to make impossible choices ⚔️

Left in sole charge of the Edel, a heartbroken Lili fixes her smile as she serves champagne to men who would have her killed in an instant if they knew the truth about her heritage. But grief and fear transform into something else: resolve. She decides she must fight back in the only way available to her, hiding Jewish refugees in the hotel’s wine cellar before smuggling them to safety through underground networks. Though terror seizes her with every operation, this dangerous work gives her the strength to carry on, a purpose beyond mere survival. Her courage catches the attention of the Resistance, and what they ask of her next feels impossible—but in a world where evil reigns, impossible acts of resistance might be the only path to redemption 🕊️

Why this touches the heart: Catherine Hokin delivers a powerful story of courage and resistance, exploring one woman’s transformation from fearful survivor to active fighter against tyranny—historical fiction that honors those who risked everything to save others during humanity’s darkest hour.

Her grandmother has a saying: what’s done in the dark always comes to light, especially in small towns with big secrets. And she was hiding the biggest secret of them all—a truth that could destroy everything if it ever surfaced. Every summer she spent growing up at her grandparents’ coastal estate followed the same comfortable pattern. Same cousins running wild on the beach. Same controlled chaos of family gatherings. Same long golf cart rides along the shoreline at sunset, salt air in her hair and the future stretching endlessly ahead 🌊

But everything changed the summer she turned eighteen, when her grandparents’ new housekeeper moved into the guest cottage with her son, Riley. With his magnetic personality and head-turning looks that made every girl on the island take notice, Riley was the local heartthrob—confident, charming, completely irresistible. They fell in love with the intensity that only first love can bring. Riley was her first everything: first real love, first person who truly saw her, first time she gave herself completely to another person 💕

And then he became her first devastating heartbreak when he dumped her at the summer’s end without real explanation, just cold words that shattered her world. She left the island nursing wounds that took years to even begin healing, convinced she’d never return to a place that held so much pain. Ten years later, she’s back for her best friend’s wedding as the maid of honor, prepared to smile through the weekend and avoid old ghosts. Who’s the first person she literally stumbles into within hours of arriving? 💔

Riley Dixon. The universe has a cruel sense of humor. Even worse, he’s the groom’s best man, which means they’ll be forced together for an entire week of wedding festivities—rehearsal dinners, photo sessions, toasts, all of it. Being in constant proximity quickly ignites something neither expected: hot hate sex born of unresolved tension, late nights of sneaking out like they’re teenagers again, and unexpected revelations that crack open truths about that long-ago summer. The boy she knew a decade ago is gone, replaced by a self-made billionaire with secrets of his own. The hate becomes something else entirely, something that feels dangerously like the love that destroyed her before. And she begins to wonder if Riley has been hiding secrets that might explain everything—or make the past hurt even worse 🏝️

What drew me in: Jessica Peterson launches the Harbour Village series with a sizzling second-chance romance that proves sometimes you have to go home again to understand why you left—and why you should have stayed.