Safe in Sound

 

Safe in Sound
Ania Ray
(A Blue Spruce Hills Novella)
Publication date: October 29th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

She’s “happy,” but someone might say she’s “settled.” What happens when the life that makes you feel safe is also the one keeping you small?

Thirty-four-year-old piano teacher Riley O’Connor believes her chance to become a world-class musician has sailed. She’s content-ish with her life in Blue Spruce Hills, a quaint mountain town that is safe, quiet, and predictable. Instead of performing on stages, she teaches the neighborhood kids, hangs out with her best friend Clara, reads books surrounded by her houseplants, and rehearses like she’s about to be called to join the London Philharmonic.

Though she’d be too scared to go. Grammy called her ’Fraidy Cat, after all.

When what Riley thinks is a break-in turns out to be a dog who won’t leave, she’s thrust into a series of events that challenge her to confront her anxiety. First, the social kind: the veterinarian is incredibly handsome. And kind. And grieving his wife. And looking for someone to give his son piano lessons.

She agrees.

Suddenly, Riley is on a winter hike with a man where bears, snakes, and fatal injury are possibilities. And when an opportunity arises to accompany renowned violist Albi Drechsler, the dream she’d long ago decided was out of reach is suddenly within it. To get what she wants, she must prove that fear doesn’t have the final word. But could she actually leave the safety of Blue Spruce Hills?

Safe in Sound is a story about overcoming fears, leaning into friendship, and trusting that even when the night feels darkest, love can hold you through. If you miss your loved ones a little extra during the holidays, you’ll love this redemptive story that proves those we miss most can still find a way to make us courageous.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

I exhale, the breath in front of me a wisp reminiscent of the steamed milk Clara’s grandmother would mix into the hot chocolate we’d share after school. While I waited for Grammy and Pappy to come home from the Mom and Pop store they owned and ran together, Clara was my safe place.

I stuff my gloved hands in my pockets. This morning I am hanging an angel on a doorknob with someone who risked social status by befriending me. The school playground was too giant a target for a skinny eight-year-old with fiery hair. Grammy always said I’d grow into my hair one day, but I’m pretty sure the “big-tempered redhead” myth fell apart with me. Maybe because Clara has always been my fire. I’m more like old embers buried under kindling.

So way back when… gosh, has it really already been over two decades? Way back when Clara asked if I wanted to skip on the sidewalk with her—and my answer was a genuine yes—we began our friendship.

Basically, I’ll do whatever Clara asks. She knew I was the new kid and approached me anyway. Anyone who does that—when kids seem to feel most powerful when they’re being mean and exclusive—deserves to have their best friend wake up early.

And even though I’d love to still be sleeping right now, three blissful hours remaining in my regular schedule, I feel a thrilling anticipation at seeing my best friend. Sure, I see her in passing every weekday, and we catch each other up in text messages all the time, but to sit down and really connect usually only happens when she comes over once a month. And we’ve missed a lot of those lately because she’s doing big baker things.

And I do little piano teacher things.

It’s fine. I’m happy.

Author Bio:

Hi, I’m Ania Ray, an author of women’s fiction that dives into the raw, transformative journeys of complex female characters. My books force each protagonist to confront the worst of herself before she evolves into the hero of her own story.

The Cromwell Rules trilogy features interconnected standalones, so you can enjoy each book individually or follow Lily Cromwell's entire arc from start to finish. In The Cromwell Rules and Breaking the Rules, I explore how boundaries can feel stifling or nonexistent, and how we each must find our sweet spot of self-respect.

When I’m not writing, I lead Quill & Cup, a writing community that helps authors finish the stories that matter to them. Outside of writing, I’m a wife, a mom to a toddler who’d live outdoors if she could, and a tea lover (Cinnamon Apple Spice is my favorite).

If you love reading novels with relatable, complex characters and emotionally gripping stories, you’re in the right place.

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It’s a Wonderful Wife

 

It’s a Wonderful Wife
Anna Valleria
(Lords Fall First, #3)
Publication date: October 27th 2026
Genres: Adult, Historical, Holiday, Romance

He wished he had never met her… until he saw the world without her.

James Reed, Lord St. George, the Baron of a struggling estate, has spent years in London avoiding the responsibilities of his title and the wife he married for her dowry. Mariah Reed, the daughter of an Irish linen mogul, has spent those same years saving the family estate, supporting the nearby mill town, and secretly nursing dreams of becoming a playwright.

When James returns to Bailey Hall with a secret plan to save his childhood home by pressuring Mariah’s father to lower worker wages, he finds a woman far more passionate and capable than the shy bride he left behind. After a drunken confrontation leads to the destruction of Mariah’s community project and her dreams, James is met by a mysterious figure who shows him what a charmed life he had.

Through a harrowing vision of a world where Mariah never entered his life, James witnesses the ruin of his brother and the total desolation of his town. Faced with the reality of his own selfishness, James must embark on a path of redemption to prove to Mariah, and himself, that he is worthy of the life she built for them.

Return to the Victorian world of the Lords Fall First series in this emotional, second-chance holiday romance!

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

He spent five years ignoring their arranged marriage until a brush with death made him realize she’s the only thing that matters. Too bad she isn’t interested in his apologies.

“Mariah,” he began purposefully, “something happened, I—” How could he explain what had happened without sounding like a madman? She would likely have him sent to Bedlam if he attempted to explain his revelations. “I don’t know how to say this to a person such as you.”

“A person such as m-me?” While her tone had previously leaned toward emotionlessness, he recognized his error as her body became rigid.

Double damn, he had only meant he did not know how to apologize to a woman, but he had well and truly put his foot in it.

“I’m sorry.” Was all he found he could say. “For the assembly hall, for Barrymore. Bloody hell, for everything. For spending your father’s hard-earned money on anything besides saving the estate. I’ve been…beyond selfish since we wed, it’s only taken me losing almost everything to see it.”

She stayed in the same position before him, her uneven breath the only indication she was at all affected by his words. For a moment, something softened in her eyes before that chilling emptiness returned.

“Very w-well. I accept your apology.”

“Mariah, you can’t—” he began before her words registered. “You do?” A previously unknown joy shot off within his chest. “Mariah, I don’t deserve you, thank heavens. I was thinking, perhaps… Perhaps we could start again, you and I—”

“James,” she said sharply. “I said that I f-forgive you, but I would still like for you to go to London.”

“My lord,” she continued, “I b-believe that we should carry on as we had before. Live s-separate lives.”

“But why should we when we have this?” He let out a low growl, closing the distance between them before ensnaring her waist in his firm embrace, hoisting her closer to his heat. His gaze descended to her pillowy lips, lingering for a heartbeat to offer her the chance to utter a denial.

When no denial came, he claimed her mouth with his own. She tasted of tea and fresh mint, a scent uniquely hers that he had relished upon many occasions, yet never before had their coupling kindled such a profound sense of exhilaration within him. Embracing her now sparked a previously unknown ecstasy as he finally acknowledged the truth of his own heart.

“How can we live apart when we have this?” he rasped, reluctantly pulling his lips from hers.

Her dilated eyes refocused, and she shoved his hands off of her and turned, wrapping her dressing gown around herself more tightly. “Just because I forgive you does not mean I trust you. Or wish to have a real marriage with you.”

“Mariah… I think I could love you. I’m…I’m falling in love with you.”

Mariah stared at him as something pulsed in those midnight blue eyes. Then, as if a curtain had been drawn, they went blank.

“You d-don’t know me, James. Not really.”

Author Bio:

Anna Valleria is an award-winning historical romance author who believes that everyone deserves to see themselves on the page. Her mission is to write steamy Regency and Victorian stories featuring socially active heroines and devoted heroes that reflect windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors for all readers, including characters of different sizes, backgrounds, abilities, and neurodiversities. Her novel The Baron Takes a Wife was the 2025 winner of the Hearts Through History Romance Through the Ages Contest in the published Georgian/Victorian category.

Currently residing in a beautiful, historic city in the southeastern U.S. with her family and a rescue pup. If she's not writing, she's likely in a coffee shop, walking with her son or dog, or trivia with her team, Stone Cold Jane Austen.

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Naked Brews

 

Bottled Up Chemistry
Christi Snow & Sarah Nego
(Naked Brews, #1)
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A reformed conman and a sarcastic beauty both want the same mountain brewery.
He’s holding lies and she’s barely holding it together.
What could possibly go wrong?

Lake always had a plan. Finish college, move back to Colorado, and run Naked Brews with her dad. Her plan went down the drain when her dad died and left the brewery she called home to her absent maternal figure. Now Lake will have to convince her impossible-to-please mother to sell her the brewery, sweet talk the bank into a loan she can’t afford, and turn her dad’s small town dream into a thriving business.

Walsh thought the plan was simple. Pretend to be his millionaire best friend, buy a failing brewery, and honor their fallen military brother. But simple went down the drain the minute he met the sassy and beautiful brewery manager who clocked him as enemy #1. Now he’s stuck between his growing attraction to the loud-mouth sarcasm factory and knowing he’ll break her heart when he takes her brewery.

Bottled Up Chemistry is a small town romance with found family and moderate spice.

This book was previously published as Deliciously Smooth by KB Jacobs (a pseudonym used by Sarah Nego and Christi Snow).

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Lake

“There you are.” Melissa ran up to me as I wrenched the door open. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Well, I’ve been everywhere. The bar was a mess, Hops on Top is almost out, and Barb is late.”

Melissa fluttered her hands in front of her in the most Melissa-like movement possible. “I have something I need to talk to you about. It’s really important.”

“Can you talk and walk?” I hefted the kegs on to the dolly and tilted it onto the wheels to head back to the bar.

Melissa trotted after me, wringing her hands like she was trying to kill a chicken. “This is really important. Did I say that?” She stayed hot on my heels as I wheeled back through the brewery and toward the bar. “We should go to the office. Actually, maybe pour a beer first and then come to the office.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I eased the dolly down and pulled out my phone. Five minutes until the open sign flashed on unless I wanted a mob of local guys beating down my door.

“This had better be Barb.” I pulled up my text messages, and sure enough, Barb had sent a quick note saying she was running late. “No shit, Sherlock.”

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and angled the dolly back up again.

“Really, Lake. We need to talk.”

“Really, Melissa. This is not the time.” I pushed through into the beer cooler. “Barb is late, so now I’ve got to run the bar and the food until she gets here. I’ve got a keg about to blow, and I still haven’t hooked up the new on-tap offering. “

“I know, I know.” Melissa stood to the side while I offloaded the back-up kegs. “It’s just, this really can’t wait.”

“Is the bar on fire?” I sniffed, inhaling nothing but the scent of burnt french fries and hops. “Nope, didn’t think so.”

Outside, the first rumbling diesel engine pulled into the parking lot. There wasn’t enough time to take the dolly back, which meant I’d have Harlan bitching at me in an hour. I hauled ass back through the kitchen. The fryers were hot and ready, but I had no idea if any of the food I’d need today was prepped or even here. I mentally added kitchen inventory to my to-do list.

Melissa tailed me as I marched into the front of the pub. The lights needed to come on, and I’d just have to pray that Barb would be there soon.

“Lake, I just need a few minutes. This really can’t wait.”

I flipped the light switch that powered the neon tube sign in the window, alerting all of Aspenridge the best beer in Colorado was now available, served cold and fresh. “Dammit, Melissa. I love you, but can’t you see I’m trying and failing to do the job of three people right now? What is so frickin’ important that it just can’t wait one more second?”

Melissa squared her shoulders and looked me dead in the eye. “You don’t own the brewery.”

Author Bio:

As an avid reader her entire life, Christi Snow always dreamed of writing books that brought to others the kind of joy she felt when she read. But...she never did anything about it besides jot down a few ideas and sparse scenes.

When her husband retired from the Air Force, Christi decided it was time to chase her dream and she started writing. She hasn’t stopped since. With twenty-two published books in various romance genres, she’s found her passion. Now she spends her days with her laptop writing about sexy, alpha heroes and the loves of their lives.

Writing, Christi has fulfilled her dream... filling the world with more romance and suspense.

Her tagline is... Passion and adventure on the road to Happily Ever After. She loves this adventure and has truly found her tribe!

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Begin Again by Author Jennifer

 

 

 

♦ ♦ ♦

Chloe Lake is finally living her dream. As the daughter of the Governor, she's consistently in the spotlight, and after being dubbed the Most Eligible Bachelorette of NYC, both her career and personal life have exploded. Fortunately, her work as an advocate for animal welfare requires constant publicity and funding — so she embraces her role and plays for the camera. Anything for the sake of her beloved rescues.

But when a big case is on the line, she's faced with the one obstacle she never counted on: the boy who broke her heart is back, and in order to gain justice, they need to work together.

Chloe swears she can handle it until old feelings resurface, and she's faced with a heartbreaking choice. Will this time end differently, or are they destined to be only each other's first love instead of forever?

Owen Salt fell hard for Chloe when he was a screwed-up kid in college, and spent the next years changing himself into the man his grandfather always believed he could be. But when his career led him across the country, he knew he needed to leave the woman he loved behind. He's never forgotten her — but as the new darling of the press, she's way out of his league.

When work brings him back to fight for justice by her side, he swears he can handle it. But he's never really gotten over his first love, and he wants one more opportunity to prove he's worthy.

Can Owen convince the woman who holds his heart to take a second chance on forever? Or is it too late for them both?

Begin Again is a second chance romance featuring a governor's daughter, a reformed bad boy turned animal rights attorney, and the first love neither of them ever stopped feeling.

♦ ♦ ♦

♦ ♦ ♦

Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. 

She is the NYT, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over 60 books in contemporary romance fiction. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the NY Times. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a "romance phenom" by Kirkus Reviews. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at www.jenniferprobst.com. Sign up of her newsletter to receive a free book. 

   

  

♦ ♦ ♦

The Amalfi Wish

 

The Amalfi Wish
Rosie Donlin
(The Lucky Year, #1)
Publication date: October 31st 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Laurel McBride knows how to make other people’s dreams come true. She just has no idea what to do with her own.

As an event planner at a Florida resort, Laurel can rescue beachfront weddings, soothe impossible clients, and solve disasters before anyone notices. But six weeks after she and five other women split an $84 million lottery jackpot, she is still answering emails, fixing everyone else’s problems, and postponing her own life.

So Laurel does something wildly out of character: she walks away from work, crosses the Atlantic, and spends July on the Amalfi Coast with the other winners.

The plan is simple—sunshine, spectacular food, beautiful views, and one glorious month in which nobody needs anything from her.

Then she meets Tore.

With him, Laurel cannot hide behind schedules, competence, or the carefully controlled version of herself who always knows what to do. And as the women settle into their lucky year, Laurel begins to wonder whether the dependable life she built was ever truly hers—or whether being needed has simply kept her from risking what she really wants.

For the first time, Laurel has enough money to choose almost anything.

Now she must decide what would actually make her happy.

Sun-drenched, romantic, and full of friendship, food, and second chances, The Amalfi Wish is the first interconnected standalone novel in The Lucky Year series.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

The condo was quiet at seven, and the orange was still on the cutting board.

Laurel McBride had paid four ninety-nine for it at Whole Foods, then left it there for days, sticker still on the peel. She hadn’t eaten it or put it away.

Outside the sliding door, the courtyard sprinkler was drowning the same azalea again. Laurel caught herself planning what to tell the superintendent, then remembered she wasn’t at Mariner’s Crown. The superintendent could handle the azalea on his own.

Over Memorial Day, a storm at Mariner’s Crown had stranded six women at the Compass Bar long enough for them to buy a Powerball ticket and make a promise. The ticket had left each of them with fourteen million dollars. The promise had given them a year of places to go together, beginning with Laurel’s month on the Amalfi Coast.

Six weeks after the money reached her account, Laurel still hadn’t bought herself a thing. She had paid bills, shifted money among accounts, and stared down every question about what came next. Then she’d spent four ninety-nine on an orange and left it on the cutting board like incriminating evidence. Fourteen million dollars, and produce made her nervous.

She’d been excellent at spending other people’s money. Give Laurel a wedding budget and she could tell you where to save, where to splurge, and which upgrade a bride would remember after the flowers were gone. This money belonged to her rather than a client, free of deadlines and finalized floor plans. It was hers whenever she chose to want something.

Author Bio:

Rosie Donlin writes destination women's fiction about complicated friendships, second chances, and women figuring out what they truly want. Her books blend escapist settings, grown-up romance, humor, memorable meals, and plenty of reasons to pour another glass of wine.

Rosie lives in San Francisco.

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Beneath the Burning Sky

 

Beneath the Burning Sky
Ruby Valladares
(The Ashfall Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: October 6th 2026
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance

He never wanted a wife. But marrying her is the only way to keep his little sister alive.

Five years after the world ended, David has one job: keep Grace alive.

Food is rationed. The water is contaminated. Marauders roam beyond the fences. And the Drange is turning ordinary people into violent, purple-veined monsters.

When a deadly infection breaches their refugee camp, the rumored Sanctuary may be her only chance of survival.

There’s just one problem: Passage is reserved for families.

So David makes an impossible choice: he marries his nemesis.

She doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t trust her. Their marriage is supposed to be nothing more than a means of survival.

But once they leave the fences of Camp Orange, surviving each other becomes the least of their problems.

Because the wasteland is hungry.

Beneath the Burning Sky is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel blending survival horror, a deadly outbreak, infected humans, forced marriage, reluctant allies, and a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance.

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EXCERPT:

So this is what the end of the world looks like.

The thought ran through David’s mind as he trudged along next to his father and sister, bumping shoulders with hundreds of other desperate survivors who had escaped the wrath of Yellowstone.

Just fourteen days ago.

His dad had driven them hundreds of miles before the gas stations ran out of fuel.

It hadn’t been far enough.

They’d been walking ever since.

They’d crossed into Kentucky two days ago, but it didn’t look any different than Wyoming. Any different than Missouri four days before that.

The fingers of devastation reached here as well. The volcanic eruption had come out of nowhere, shattering the land and blanketing everything in gray.

Ash rained down from the sky, a silent, relentless shroud that smothered everything in its suffocating grip. The smell of sulfur and smoke lingered in the air, a constant reminder of the chaos and destruction that had been unleashed upon the world.

David opened his bag and pulled out a granola bar. Three days ago the group had run into a military unit handing out bags of food, urging them to keep going.

“We’re setting up camps in the south,” they’d said. “We’ll have shelter, food, everything you need until we can get back on our feet.”

David counted the bars he had left. Five. That was it.

He dropped the bar back into his bag.

His feet dragged through the ash like freshly fallen snow, leaving deep imprints behind. The horizon was filled with ruins of buildings and broken trees, the sky a gloomy mix of gray and red as the sun attempted to peek through.

East. Go east. And then south. Get to Georgia, Alabama, Florida.

That’s what everyone around him said. Like somewhere magical and untouched by the eruption existed if they just went far enough.

His home, his entire life, had been taken from him in an instant.

His mom.

Don’t think about what you’ve lost.

Fabric stained with soot and sweat covered his mouth. He trudged on, his mind numb and his body achingly tired.

Thirteen days of walking.

Author Bio:

Ruby Valladares writes adult speculative fiction filled with catastrophic disasters, impossible choices, complicated relationships, and ordinary people discovering just how far they’ll go to survive.

Her worlds are dark. Her characters are messier. And hope—when it comes—has to be fought for.

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