Labels

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Release Blitz + #Giveaway: The Lark by Laura C. Rader @LauraWriter2B @RABTBookTours




Historical Fiction

Date Published: 09-23-2026

Publisher: Echoes Publishing



When The Wizard of Oz graced the silver screen in 1939, it changed cinema and popular culture forever. But the true story began decades earlier with the young composer who risked everything to bring it to the Broadway stage.

At the turn of the century, twenty-three-year-old Paul Tietjens is a gifted classical pianist with dreams of greatness and a non-refundable ticket to Europe to study with the master composers of his time.

But when the bank calls in the debt on his family’s Missouri farm, Paul forgoes his dream to save them from financial ruin. Desperate to find a new road to success, he moves to up-and-coming Chicago, where he persuades author L. Frank Baum to collaborate on a comic opera of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, setting the stage for the defining cultural touchstone that we know today.

Paul embarks on his opera with high hopes, but scandal threatens his soaring ambition when he falls in love with his best friend’s beautiful but married sister, and his fears grow as the Wizard of Oz demands not only his talent but his soul.

Inspired by Paul’s 1901 diary, The Lark follows Paul as he journeys from the theaters of Chicago to the streets of Manhattan, from his family’s Missouri farm to the beaches of Michigan, fighting to hang onto the chance of a lifetime, his integrity, and the woman he loves.



Excerpt

From Chapter 27 of The Lark by Laura C. Rader


After lunch, I sat at the parlor piano and ran through some of the songs for The Wizard of Oz, replaying each moment with Katherine in my mind as my fingers played the keys. She sat nearby, silently reading Persuasion, our glances meeting now and again as Daisy played with Lina and Vita in between sorting through the boarding house accounts. I mulled over the sanctity of marriage, the frailties of the heart, and the ominous predictions of the palm reader. My fate was surely sealed, and I only prayed I hadn’t somehow thrown Katherine’s completely off course.

 

About the Author

In addition to The Lark, Laura C. Rader is the award-winning author of the historical novel Hatfield 1677, based on the lives of her ancestors in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century.

When she isn’t writing, you can find her researching history for her books and her family tree and spending time with family, friends, and pets.

A native of southern California, she now lives north of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Please go to www.lcrwriter.com for more info on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter.


Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Blog

Instagram


Purchase Link

Amazon

Amazon Author Page Link

 



RABT Book Tours & PR

Teaser: Space Opera Duet by Stephanie Burke @Flashycat @RABTBookTours @changelingpress




LGBTQ+ MPreg Sci-Fi Action Romance

Date Published: September 25, 2026

Publisher: Changeling Press



Bred to be the perfect soldiers, Javen and Gara are running from the the very people they were created to protect.

Javen and Gara were bred to be the perfect soldiers, protecting New Earth from the scourge from above. As lovers, they were created to resonate in perfect harmony with each other, their lives the stuff of legends. But they proved to be evolution's darlings, developing beyond anything the scientists had ever dreamed of, their advancement eclipsing that of their creators.

Now their only hope is a planet of their own, where they can live free -- free to construct a new society based on the ideals of justice and honor. But with dangerous factions at work, a mysterious prophesy, and an old enemy amassing, this stunning melody may ring out with the perfect notes to save the worthy and unworthy alike.

Freedom demands an awful price.


Publisher's Note: Space Opera Duet originally released as two separate novellas.




Excerpt

Copyright ©2026 Stephanie Burke

 

"Bonded, let down my braid?" The silver-haired man asked the question politely as he gracefully dropped to his knees beside his beloved.

Javen looked up at his tora through silver lashes, his purple eyes gleaming in anticipation as he licked full, pouty lips. His lithe body was covered in an odd type of silk wrap, the weave plainly visible, but the material soft as air. Several colorful strands of blue and purple, strands of hair from fallen comrades, made up a pattern in the cloth. His long, pale fingers rested on his slim thighs, his poise perfect as he awaited the response.

"Shall I unbind you, my mate?" The question was asked in a low, gravelly voice, the desire and intent clear. Gara the Red, High Lord Chancellor of this particular space station far above New Earth Sphere, observed his mate, his cock swelling, his blood running hot. "Shall I release you to take what pleasures I can off that pale body of yours?"

Javen seemed to shiver, though his body remained perfectly still. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of his bonded, trilling a soft, vibrating song of desire as he felt his own erection grow. "Unbind me, bonded, if you dare… if you have a need of the pleasures this pale flesh can bring you."

Javen tilted his head to the side, shifted his shoulders, and allowed his robe to slide from one shoulder, exposing a chest decorated with what appeared to be elaborate, pale purple tattoos.

Javen's scales were beautiful, strong, soft and iridescent against his pale skin. They outlined his hairline at his forehead, trailed down along his neck to the backs of each arm. They overran the backs of his hands, giving him the look of an exotic jeweled statue. They continued around his chest, across his lower abdomen, and down his outer thighs.

Naked, he was a thing of grace and style, of beauty that no human being could dare possess. But… he was not human. He wiggled his talon-tipped toes in excitement, his eyes burning with desire.

"Oh, I have a need," Gara chuckled, reaching down and cupping his cock, running the flat of his hand along its hardness. Javen could almost feel the heat wafting off his beloved's body, and thrummed louder.

Gara threw back his head and moaned, his own touch stoking his desires higher as he observed the signs of need in his usually reserved mate. Javen was one of the most polite, perfectly poised ryuujin who had ever been created. To see him react so wildly to his own heat cycle… Magnificent.

Gara ripped his tunic from his body, ruffling his wild mane of red hair and exposing his broad, scarred chest in the process, tossing the shreds of material aside.

"Come," he purred, reaching out with both hands, tangling his fingers in his mate's hair. "Come ease my need."

He gripped the bands of ribbons that liberally twined through his mate's braid, a braid he himself had placed in Javen's hair earlier that morning. Javen tossed his head back, his trill growing deeper in his throat as he exposed his neck, his most vulnerable point, to his beloved.

Gara wasted no time in bending over and running his clawed fingers over Javen's neck, caressing the soft, firm skin and the raised scales that he so loved to touch, to lick, to nibble and suck.

Javen nestled into his mate's palm, his trill softening as Gara's hands -- his strong, scarred hands -- pushed the robe from his body, allowing it to fall around his waist.

"Do you have any idea how hard you make me?" Gara growled. He moved closer, closing his eyes and pulling in the spicy scent of his mate's neck, the heat of his desire so at odds with his cool skin.

"I can --" Javen reached up, pressing his hands to the heat between his bonded's thighs, feeling the rigid column of flesh that throbbed at his caress. "-- feel." His other hand joined the first, tugging at the tie at the waist, wanting the material gone that separated him from what he wanted.

He lifted his head again, leaning forward to nuzzle into his bonded's groin, bathing the head of his mate's cock with his cool breath. Throwing back his head, Gara purred and gripped his beloved's head, pushing him deeper against his crotch.

"That is what you want?" Gara demanded.

"Yes," Javen snarled, his eyes near glowing as he rose up to his full height, towering over his lover by more than a few inches.

"Then come and take it."

 

About the Author

Stephanie is a USA Today Best Selling, multi published, multi award-winning author, Master Costumer, handicapped, wife and mother of two.

From sex-shifting, shape-shifting dragons to undersea worlds, sexually confused elemental Fey and homo-erotic mysteries, all the way to pastel-challenged urban sprites, Stephanie has done it all, and hopes to do more.

Stephanie is an orator on her favorite subjects of writing and world-building, a sometime teacher when you feed her enough tea and donuts, an anime nut, a costumer, and a frequent guest of various sci-fi and writing cons where she can be found leading panel discussions or researching varied legends and theories to improve her writing skills.

Stephanie is known for her love of the outrageous, strong female characters, believable worlds, male characters filled with depth, and multi-cultural stories that make the reader sit up and take notice.


Author Links

Author on Facebook

Author on Twitter

 

Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @changelingpress

 

Pre-Order Today


RABT Book Tours & PR

Cover Reveal: Blood Code by Hazel St. Lewis @XpressoTours

Blood Code
Hazel St. Lewis
(Fury Verse: Volume 1, #2)
Publication date: October 15th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Dark Romance, Romance

I’ve spent years hiding in plain sight. The Russians call me a ghost. A myth. A monster lurking in the dark.

Good.

I am taunting Severin Volkov. I am hunting him. But the closer I get to crossing his name off my ledger, the harder it becomes to remember why I’m supposed to hate him. He should be my enemy and my final victim.

Instead, he’s becoming my greatest weakness.

The Ghost is no longer a rumor. Every lead points to a woman who shouldn’t exist. Every answer uncovers a new lie. Someone is manipulating my organization from within, feeding information to our enemies and staying one step ahead of me at every turn.

I will find the traitor.

I will find the Ghost.

And when I do, I’ll make them regret they were ever born. But as old secrets surface and loyalties begin to fracture, I’m forced to confront a possibility far more dangerous than betrayal: What if the woman I’m hunting is the one person I can’t afford to lose?

BLOOD CODE is book two in Fury Verse: Volume 1. It is a dark mafia romance featuring a female serial killer, enemies-to-lovers tension, and obsessive romance.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order


Author Bio:

Hazel St. Lewis is a Romantasy author. Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, she struggled to read and write, but fantasy stories inspired her to start storytelling. Unfortunately, now, she is a little too obsessed with morally gray characters. When she isn’t writing, she can be found playing with her hoard of cats (too many to count…it’s a problem), singing songs to said cats, or painting.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / TikTok / Newsletter



Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Review: MacGregor and the Secrets of MI6 (A Maggie MacGregor Mystery #1) by Greta Sinclair

MacGregor and the Secrets of MI6

A Maggie MacGregor Mystery #1

by Greta Sinclair

Published: September 22, 2026

Genre: Crime Fiction, Mystery, Europe, Fiction, Great Britain, Woman Sleuth

 

Blurb:


She came to Britain to check off a bucket list. She never expected to become part of someone else's last wish.

After years of putting everyone else first, retired American private investigator Maggie MacGregor is finally taking the trip she's dreamed about for decades: exploring Britain's castles, villages, and historic treasures.

The distinguished silver-haired gentleman seated in 4C wasn't part of Maggie's carefully planned itinerary.

Ian Blackwell is charming, quietly witty, and seems to know Britain better than any guidebook. Maggie assumes he's simply another traveler. She has no idea he's spent a lifetime keeping secrets for MI6.

Then celebrated historian Oliver Pembroke is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message meant only for Maggie.

Suddenly, her dream vacation becomes a dangerous investigation. As Maggie and Ian follow a trail of coded recipes, forgotten journals, and long-buried secrets, they discover Oliver wasn't protecting treasure.

He was protecting history itself.

Now someone will do anything to keep the truth buried.

With danger closing in and an unexpected romance quietly unfolding, Maggie must trust the instincts she thought she'd left behind. But solving Oliver's final mystery may mean risking her heart as well.

Because it's never too late to begin again.

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ BookBub


My Review:

MacGregor and the Secrets of MI6 is an excellent first installment to Greta Sinclair’s new series, the Maggie MacGregor Mystery. The story opens with Maggie MacGregor and Ian Blackwell on a nine-hour flight to Europe. Neither Maggie nor Ian knows at that moment that they will soon be investigating the death of celebrated historian Oliver Pembroke.

Maggie is a retired American private investigator who has come to Europe to fulfill a long-planned bucket list—one filled with Britain's historic treasures, castles, and villages. Ian is charming and subtly sharp, and he seems to know Britain inside and out, having spent a lifetime keeping secrets for MI6. But, of course, Maggie knows none of this at first.

When Oliver is murdered, Maggie and Ian work together to solve the case. Oliver knew something someone obviously wanted to keep quiet—but what was he trying to hide, or perhaps protect?

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of MacGregor and the Secrets of MI6 and loved getting to know Maggie and Ian. I can’t wait for the next books in the series: MacGregor and the Highland Cipher (Book 2, releasing November 3, 2026) and MacGregor and the Last Keeper (Book 3, releasing December 15, 2026). If you are looking for your next captivating mystery, I highly suggest giving this book a try. Trust me, you won’t regret it for a minute. Pick up your copy today!

Connect with Greta Sinclair


Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Hidden Words by Christine Roy @XpressoTours

Hidden Words
Christine Roy
Publication date: September 22nd 2026
Genres: Adult, Gothic, Mystery

A Novel by Award-Winning Author Christine Roy

Some secrets don’t stay buried. They wait for the right mind to hear them.

In 1994, on the rocky shores of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, Ben Barrows begins his senior year at Masters’ Preparatory like a dead man walking, half his friendships already over, just not yet buried. Then Dana Kirkland arrives: a new student, a rival dancer to his powerful ex-girlfriend, and the one person who might save him. Together, Ben and Dana try to hold on to love against a tidal wave of pain and treachery neither of them saw coming.

In the present, Joey Barrows is drowning in grief. As he crosses the graduation stage, a terrifying gift awakens, the unspoken words of everyone around him, pouring uninvited into his mind. When Joey discovers his distant, unstable father shares this same curse, the door to a devastating past swings open, releasing secrets, obsession, and ghosts that refuse to stay silent.

Told across two timelines, Hidden Words is a gothic, speculative mystery about the inheritance of trauma — and the terrible cost of truths left unspoken.

Perfect for fans of We Were Liars, Black Swan, and The Turnout.

 Hidden Words deals with mature themes including trauma, family abuse, and sensitive interpersonal relationships. Recommended for mature young adult and adult readers.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

     Raising his head, he approached the distinguished, black-gowned dean. The ringing in his ears pitched higher. With cold dread sluicing through his veins, he shook the dean’s hand. His mind crackling with a storm of energy, he looked the man straight in the eyes and took his diploma.

Guess scholarship kid didn’t waste our money.

“I’m sorry, Sir. What?” He squinted up at the unsmiling man. A distorted hum circled around him as the man’s words echoed in his head—clear, yet unspoken, not the shadowy wisps of noise he’d experienced before.

“Keep it moving, Barrows.”

“It’s just that I…” Joey stammered, his breath ragged. Shame bubbled up through the scars on his body like oil from the ground. He gaped at the dean’s stone face. “I heard you.” The words slipped from his lips.

“Christ, just move Barrows.”

I’ve had enough of your pathetic sad-boy act. 

Joey nodded, stomach twisting. His thoughts raced and twisted in his head. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He wasn’t psychic; nobody was. Withering beneath the dean’s glare, he flicked his tassel to the left and stumbled to the end of the stage. Desperate, he scanned the crowd, fairytale hope rising in his mind.

Maybe he was there.

Not likely.

Ben Barrows worked and hid. A son’s graduation didn’t fall into either of those categories, especially since these were the halls of Ben’s past. Traces of that Ben, shining and connected, existed in pictures behind glass cases like an extinct museum specimen.

They looked so similar, with their dark hair, wide-set green eyes, and lanky frames.

But that Ben was a ghost.



GIVEAWAY!

Hidden Words Blitz


Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Forever Her Cowboy by Peyton Banks @XpressoTours

Forever Her Cowboy
Peyton Banks
(Silver Creek Ranch)
Publication date: September 22nd 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

He came to Silver Creek Ranch planning to drift on.
A fearless diner owner gave him a reason to stay forever.

Trent Lawson has spent years drifting from one job to the next.

Since leaving the Army, staying in one place has never felt possible… until he discovered the Silver Creek Ranch, a healing ranch for military veterans.

Then he met Frankie Carpenter.

The beautiful diner owner with the tempting curves, a stubborn streak a mile wide, and a smile that will make a hardened soldier start thinking about things he hasn’t allowed himself to want in years.

But when wealthy developers start pressuring her to sell the diner that’s the heart of the town, things quickly turn dangerous.

Frankie refuses to back down.

And Trent refuses to let her stand alone.

Protecting Frankie was never part of his plan—but the more time he spends with her, the more he realizes Ironhaven might finally be the place to put down roots.

Because some things are worth fighting for.

Forever Her Cowboy is a steamy small-town romance featuring a protective cowboy, a fierce heroine, and a love worth fighting for at Silver Creek Ranch.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

She loved what she did.

Even when she was tired.

Even when her feet throbbed and she desperately wished she had someone to rub them when she was at home.

She loved knowing people chose her place to start their day.

“Order up for table nine!” Chris called out.

She grabbed Trent’s plate before Tabby could. She didn’t know why. Maybe she did. She carried it out carefully and set it in front of him.

“Now this should keep you going,” she said. She rested her hands on her hips and smiled at Trent. “Or are you planning to nap in the barn after this?”

The corner of his lips lifted. “Depends. You offering to tuck me in?”

She blinked.

The laugh that erupted from her came from the gut. She hadn’t expected such a response.

“Well, now. A big strong man like you needs help?” she asked.

His shoulders relaxed. His eyes crinkled in the corner as he reached for his fork.

“Figured I’d try something new.” He shrugged.

Her pulse skipped a beat.

Try something new.

Was he talking about her? It had been a long time since she’d been in the dating pool. She bit her lip and leaned slightly closer to him. She watched him take his first bite of the biscuit and gravy.

“I’m sure you’ll be okay. The food will give you energy you need. Buck’s been running y’all hard this week.”

His eyebrows rose as he chewed. He swallowed and motioned to her.

“Keeping tabs on me, are we?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she said softly.

The air between them shifted.

This was dangerous and exciting.

She’d dated here and there since moving back, but nothing serious. Most of the men in Ironhaven were either married, uninterested, or too eager in ways that made her wary.

Trent was different.

He appeared to be a good guy. The others from the Silver Creek Ranch spoke highly of him. Melah, one of the female hands, had been in the other day, and from what she’d said, Trent was single.

Not that she’d asked.

Okay, she had. She was just curious. She knew he wasn’t from Ironhaven and she didn’t know if he commuted back and forth since Ironhaven had ample ranches and farms that needed good workers.

She couldn’t remember the last time a man’s gaze took her breath away. That happened almost every time Trent looked her way.

“Dinner tonight,” she heard herself say before she lost her nerve. “The special is chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and honey butter rolls.”

His eyes widened. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. You should come back.” She tilted her head.

There was something about watching a man enjoy a good meal. Trent was steadily packing away the food that was on his plate. She couldn’t tell where it all went. He was solid muscle and fit.

Her? All of the food went to her hips.

“Unless you are scared of a food coma,” she teased.

“I can handle it.” He huffed a laugh.

She just about fell over at the sound of it. She knew he smiled, but it wasn’t often she heard him laugh when he was here eating.

“I’ll even throw in a slice of cheesecake, on the house.” She lowered her voice just a bit.

He stared at her like he wasn’t sure if she was serious. Her stomach flipped. Was she really flirting this openly?

Apparently, yes.

Was she failing at it?

“Hard to turn down free cheesecake,” he said.

“Good.” She straightened to her full height. “Don’t forget we close early on Mondays. I’ll be expecting you around six.”

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then nodded.

“I’ll be here at six.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs. Behind her, Libby called her name. The place was filled to capacity. She stepped back and, before she could stop herself, she winked at him.

“Don’t be late.”

She turned and walked away so she couldn’t see his reaction. The second she reached the counter, she sucked in a deep breath.

What on earth had she just done?

Author Bio:

USA Today best selling author, Peyton Banks, is the alter ego of a city girl who is a romantic at heart. Her mornings consist of coffee and daydreaming up the next steamy romance book ideas. She loves spinning romantic tales of hot alpha males and the women they love. She currently resides with her husband and children in Cleveland, Ohio.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Facebook / TikTok / Newsletter


GIVEAWAY!

Forever Her Cowboy Blitz


Book Blitz + #Giveaway: reclaim by Heather Henderson @RABTBookTours



How to Stop Scrolling Through Your Life and Start Living It

Personal Development / Digital Well-Being (Narrative Nonfiction)
Date Published: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Publisher: Fernlight Books


 You’re not broken. You’re overstimulated.


They sat on the beach with their backs to the ocean, faces in their phones, watching clips of someone else’s vacation. As Heather Henderson stood a few feet away, ready to capture the perfect Cabo moment, she realized we were promised more: more connection, more freedom, more possibility — not a life spent refreshing feeds.


Handed devices before we were taught how to live with them, most of us inherited this algorithmic world. We learned to let notifications and endless recommendations choose for us in small, quiet ways, until the choices no longer felt like choices at all, and we found ourselves scrolling through life instead of living it.


The problem goes beyond casual screen time. It is unconscious time — the moments we surrender without realizing the cost.


Drawing from her years inside major tech companies, including Google and Uber, Heather Henderson invites readers to ask:


Did I choose this, or was it chosen for me?


If you feel wired but tired, connected but lonely, or busy but empty, this book is an honest look at how we lost presence — and a guide to reclaim it.
 


Contact Link

Purchase Link




RABT Book Tours & PR

Release Blitz + #Giveaway: A Book of Cosmic Frequencies by Carmen Belle White @RABTBookTours




The Galactic Sound Keys

 

Spiritual, Meditation

Date Published: September 22, 2026

Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing

 


Experience a transformative journey of resonance. Pairing 99 activation cards with eight hours of unique vocal soundscapes, this book guides you to remember your innate truth. Discover the power of sound to restore balance, align with the Earth’s natural frequency, and return to a state of wholeness, truth, and love. Immerse yourself in these galactic keys and awaken the voice within your soul.

 


About the Author

Carmen Belle White is a visionary composer and artist who crafts unique, otherworldly soundscapes designed to transport listeners to realms of awakening. By weaving her voice with over eight hours of original, recorded vocal sound activations—each approximately four-and-a-half minutes in length—she guides her audience into spaces of deep remembrance. Her work serves as a bridge, translating the vast, timeless frequencies of the universe into healing resonances for the human soul.

A Book of Cosmic Frequencies: The Galactic Sound Keys is the culmination of this transformative project. Designed to be experienced alongside a set of 99 cosmic activation cards, this book provides a profound way to articulate the sense that when we become "nothing," we become everything. Each of the 99 cards is paired with a specific vocal sound activation, exploring a vast spectrum of cosmic themes—from anchoring grounding Earth-based frequencies to traversing ethereal, celestial realms. Through this journey, Carmen integrates the interplay of voice and sound within each frequency, inviting you to engage with these powerful keys to discover your own unique resonance and inner potential.

Carmen’s unique relationship with sound stems from childhood experiences that heightened her sensitivity to high-pitched frequencies. This allowed her to "tune in" to the Earth’s natural hum—a constant, grounding surround sound that defines her music. This deep connection to resonance has taken her across the globe, from the sacred waters of Southern France to the recording of her debut album, forever seeking locations that hold ancient, sacred memories.

Today, Carmen offers this extensive body of work as a practical tool for your own journey. She invites you to explore these sound activations, starting with the card corresponding to your date of birth, to uncover your innate truth. Her mission is to help us remember our own voices, restore balance with the Earth, and return to a state of wholeness, truth, and love.

We are all waking up to a resonance that requires no words—only the willingness to listen. To explore the full collection of sound activations and resources, please visit the author's website.

 

Contact Links

Galactic Sound Keys Website

Carmen Belle White Website

Facebook

Instagram

Spotify


Purchase Today

Amazon



RABT Book Tours & PR

Monday, September 21, 2026

Review: Unexpected Play (Providence Forge Hockey Romance #1) by Alexa Padgett @AlexaPadgett

Unexpected Play

Providence Forge Hockey Romance #1

by Alexa Padgett

Published: September 21, 2026

Publisher: Sidecar Press, Inc.

Genre: Sports, Romance, Contemporary Romance

 

Blurb:


He's my brother's best friend. My new neighbor. And the Providence Forge defenseman who makes me forget I was ever broken.

Coming home to Providence was supposed to be temporary while I finished my master's degree and helped at my family's architecture firm.

I planned to raise my daughter in peace after my ex-fiancƩ walked away before she was even born.

Then Ryder Mackay moved in next door. The gorgeous pediatrician and part-time Forge enforcer has always been off-limits. He's loyal, steady, and the kind of man who shows up without being asked. Which is exactly why falling for him is such a terrible idea.

Because every time Ryder holds my baby like she belongs in his arms…every time he looks at me like I'm worth more than the wreckage I'm still climbing out of…I start wanting things I swore I'd never risk again: a future and a family. Him.

But Ryder's spent years protecting everyone around him while ignoring what he wants for himself, and if we're not careful, the timing that brought us together might be the very thing that tears us apart.

Previously published as Magnetic Medic, Unexpected Play is a steamy brother's-best-friend hockey romance featuring a protective hero, a single mother rebuilding her life on her own terms, forced proximity, emotional healing, and a fiercely earned happily ever after. Books in the Providence Forge Series can be read standalone — but reading in order deepens the world.

Goodreads ~ Amazon


My Review:

Unexpected Play by Alexa Padgett is a fantastic start to the Providence Forge Hockey Romance series! This captivating book hooked me from the very first page and didn't let go until the end.

I absolutely loved Aidy and Ryder’s story, and I am already eager for the next book in the series to see who falls in love next. The premise is wonderful: Aidy moves back home to start fresh after her ex-fiancĆ© leaves her upon finding out she is pregnant.

Sparks fly when she discovers her new neighbor is Ryder—her brother's best friend, a gorgeous pediatrician and part-time Forge enforcer. Neither of them is looking for a relationship, and Ryder is even seeing someone else, but their undeniable chemistry changes everything. When love hits, there is simply no stopping it.

If you are looking for a heartfelt, high-stakes sports romance, I highly recommend picking up Unexpected Play. Grab a copy of your own today!


Connect with Alexa Padgett

Review: Lost Heart of Paris by SP Cooper


Lost Heart of Paris

by SP Cooper

Published: September 21, 2026

Publisher: Ocean's Light Publishing

Genre: Fiction, Rom-Com, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Women's Fiction

Blurb:


Sometimes the most dangerous place to fall in love is inside your own head.

Paris Laurent hasn't left her Manhattan apartment in years. A brilliant engineer with crippling agoraphobia, she's built a small, safe, contained life: her fighting fish, her work, and four walls that are equal parts sanctuary and cage.
Then Julian Sterling moves in next door, charming, chaotic, and infuriatingly good at seeing the woman behind the locked door.

To feel like someone worth knowing, Paris starts to write. And the story writes back. It pulls her into a shimmering island world and into the arms of Calician, a devastatingly beautiful man who asks only one thing of her: stay. Stop fighting. Sleep.
The more perfect his world becomes, the harder it is to remember why she should ever want to wake up.
To find her way home, Paris will have to choose between the man of her dreams and the man who inspired her to dream, before she loses the difference for good.

A wildly imaginative, darkly funny, and deeply hopeful romance for readers of Matt Haig's The Midnight Library and Ashley Poston's The Seven Year Slip.

A complete, standalone love story with a happily-ever-after. Book One of the Lost Heart of Paris trilogy.

Content note: contains agoraphobia, anxiety, grief, and a storyline involving medication and thoughts of giving up on life. Ultimately hopeful; please read with care.

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ BookBub


My Review:

In The Lost Heart of Paris by SP Cooper, we meet Paris Laurent—a brilliant engineer whose crippling agoraphobia has kept her confined to her apartment for years.
Aside from her loyal friend Grace, Paris lives a deeply isolated life. But everything changes when Grace’s cousin, Julian Sterling, moves in next door. Desperate to feel worthy of Julian’s attention, Paris escapes into her writing, crafting a story about a man on a magical island.
The lines blur when her story begins leaking into real life. Forced to choose between the world she knows and the universe she created, can Paris separate reality from fiction? Or will she remain forever trapped in her own imagination?
I absolutely loved The Lost Heart of Paris and highly recommend it to any rom-com fan looking for a touch of magic. Grab your copy today and join Paris on this enchanting journey!

Connect with SP Cooper