It’s Week 3 and Letter C in my A-Z Favourite Authors & Books.
P.S. If you’ve missed any of my previous posts, you’ll find links to them all in the Archives.
It’s been really fun looking back at all the books I’ve read on Goodreads and choosing my favourites. New releases tend to get all the attention but hopefully this series of blog posts will highlight some amazing books you might have missed out on when they were first published. For example, the 5 x books in today’s post were all published between 2012 & 2016.
Until next time, happy reading!
AUTHOR: Kristen Callihan (Website / Instagram / Twitter)
Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she’d rather be. She is a RITA winner and three-time nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer’s Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book Firelight received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher’s Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she is not writing, she is reading (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 7 including Make It Sweet (My Favourite Stage & Screen Romances)
BOOK: Managed (VIP #2) (2016)
Series: Idol (#1) (Libby & Killian), Fall (#3) (Stella & Jax) & Exposed (#4) (Brenna & Rye)
It started off as a battle of wits. Me: the ordinary girl with a big mouth against Him: the sexy bastard with a big…ego.
I thought I’d hit the jackpot when I was upgraded to first class on my flight to London.
That is until HE sat next to me. Gabriel Scott: handsome as sin, cold as ice. Nothing and no one gets to him. Ever. He’s a legend in his own right, the manager of the biggest rock band in the world, and an arrogant ass who looks down his nose at me.
I thought I’d give him hell for one, long flight. I didn’t expect to like him. I didn’t expect to want him. But the biggest surprise? He wants me too. Only in a way I didn’t see coming.
If I accept his proposal, I leave myself open to falling for the one man I can’t manage. But I’m tempted to say yes. Because the real man beneath those perfect suits and that cool façade just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I just might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart.
Let the battle begin…
AUTHOR: Renee Carlino (Website / Instagram / Twitter)
Renée Carlino is a bestselling author of contemporary women’s novels and new adult fiction. Her books have been featured in national publications, including Cosmopolitan Magazine, InStyle Magazine, USA TODAY, Huffington Post, Latina magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, Redbook, Sunset Magazine, Coastal Living and the Union Tribune. She lives in Southern California with her husband and two sons. When she’s not at the beach with her boys or working on her next project, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 9
BOOK: Before We Were Strangers (2015)
To the Green-eyed Lovebird:
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.
You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.
We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.
Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…
I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.
After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M
AUTHOR: Ember Casey (Website / Instagram / Twitter)
Ember Casey is a USA Today bestselling writer who lives in Atlanta, Georgia in a den of iniquity (or so she likes to tell people). She writes books about wicked billionaires, Hollywood bad boys, playboy princes, and sexy treasure hunters. When she’s not writing steamy romances, you can find her whipping up baked goods (usually of the chocolate variety), traveling (her bucket list is infinite), or generally causing trouble (because somebody has to do it) (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 7
BOOK: The Sweet Taste of Sin (The Fontaines #1) (2015) (My Favourite Stage & Screen Romances)
Series: The Secret to Seduction (#0.5) (Felicia & Roman), The Lies Between the Lines (#2) (Emilia & Luca), The Mystery of You (#3) (Edie & Rafe) & The Thrill of Temptation (#4) (Maggie & Orlando)
Ashlyn just wants to move on with her life. Run her bakery. Heal her broken heart. She’s had three years to try and forget Dante Fontaine.
To the rest of the world, Dante is Hollywood royalty, the ridiculously attractive oldest son of the notorious Fontaine family.
To Ashlyn? He’s the guy who took her virginity and made her swear off men forever.
But when an accidental–and humiliating–encounter brings him back into her life, Ashlyn realizes that no matter how hard she’s tried to forget about him, Dante definitely hasn’t forgotten about her.
…and this time, he’s not going to let her go.
AUTHOR: Emma Chase (Website / Instagram / Twitter)
Emma Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance filled with humour, heat and heart. Her books have been published in over 20 languages and the film adaptation of Tangled, Emma’s iconic enemies-to-lovers rom-com, was recently released by Passionflix. Emma lives happily-ever-after in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and two adorable, misbehaving dogs (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 13 including the Royally Series (My Favourite (Fictional) Royal Romances) & Dirty Charmer (The Bodyguards #1) (My Favourite Books of 2020)
BOOK: Sustained (The Legal Briefs #2) (2015) Series: Overruled (#1) (Sofia & Stanton), Appealed (#3) (Kennedy & Brent) & Sidebarred (#3.5) (Chelsea & Jake)
A knight in tarnished armour is still a knight.
When you’re a defence attorney in Washington, DC, you see first-hand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.
Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.
Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.
Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.
And that — that, I know how to do.
AUTHOR: L.H. Cosway (Website / Instagram / Twitter)
L.H. Cosway lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 24 including Showmance (My Favourite Stage & Screen Romances)
BOOK: Painted Faces (Painted Faces #1) (2012)
Series: Killer Queen (#2)
Dublin native Freda Wilson considers herself to be an acquired taste. She has a habit of making offensive jokes and speaking her mind too often. She doesn’t have the best track record with first impressions, which is why she gets a surprise when her new neighbour Nicholas takes a shine to her.
Nicholas is darkly handsome, funny and magnetic, and Freda feels like her black and white existence is plunged into a rainbow of colour when she’s around him. When he walks into a room he lights it up, with his quick wit and charisma. He is a travelling cabaret performer, but Freda doesn’t know exactly what that entails until the curtains pull back on his opening night.
She is gob-smacked and entirely intrigued to see him take to the stage in drag. Later on, Nicholas asks her if she would like to become his show assistant. Excited by the idea, she jumps at the chance. Soon she finds herself immersed in a world of wigs, make-up and high heels, surrounded by pretty men and the temptation of falling for her incredibly beautiful employer.
In this story of passion and sexual discovery, Nicholas and Freda will contend with jealousy, emotional highs and lows, and the kind of love that only comes around once in a lifetime.
Louise Hall 
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