Tropes: Surprise Pregnancy, Best Friend’s Older Sister
Small Town, He Falls First, She Fights Her Feelings
Cover Design: Kristie Leigh, Vanilla Lily Designs
Photographer: Eric McKinney, 6:12 Photography
Model: Chandler R.
Release Date: June 23, 2026
BLURB
Quinn
I have a thing for my best friend’s sister. Charli Miller has always been the woman to own my heart, despite the fact she doesn’t feel the same way. We’re oil and water, fire and ice. We butt heads at every turn, but I’d still do anything for her.
I wouldn’t deny her anything.
Which is why I don’t put a stop to the little arrangement we seem to fall into. Spending that time with her is better than anything I’ve ever experienced, but unfortunately, it makes me crave more. I’ve always wanted Charli, but now, I’m a determined man. Especially when she shocks me with big news.
She’s scared, but I’m ready to fight. Fight for us.
Charli
No one pushes my buttons like Quinn Garrison. He might possibly be the most infuriating man on the face of the planet, and since he’s my younger brother’s best friend, I can’t get away from him. He’s always there, and even when he’s being sweet and supportive, it just grates on my nerves.
Until one day, that irritation explodes.
What happens next wasn’t planned. It’s raw and fueled by years of emotions, and even though I swore it wouldn’t happen again, it does. I let him into my bed and, as time passes, I’m unable to keep him out of my heart. I want everything I didn’t even know I needed, and there’s no going back now.
USA Today Bestselling Author Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and three rowdy chickens.
She was supposed to find her fated mate under the full moon.
Instead, she is ordered to bond with a stranger.
The full moon after Rhia’s twentieth birthday was meant to be the happiest night of her life. Among wolf shifters, it is the first full moon after turning twenty when a wolf might finally recognize the mate chosen by the Moon Goddess.
Rhia has always hoped that mate would be Caleb, the boy she has loved for years.
But when an entire neighboring pack is brutally wiped out, everything changes.
Fearing they could be next, the Red Moon Pack forms a desperate alliance with the powerful Silver Lake Pack. And alliances between alpha families require one thing above all else: a mating bond.
As the only unmated alpha daughter of Red Moon, Rhia’s future is decided for her. Instead of discovering her fated mate under the coming full moon, she is ordered to form a bond with Jalen, the future alpha of Silver Lake.
Leaving her home, her family, and the life she thought she would have.
Jalen never wanted a forced bond any more than Rhia did. But protecting their packs comes before everything. What neither of them expected was the instant pull between them, a connection that feels far too real to be political.
But if the Moon Goddess had a plan for their bond all along, it may be because the Dark Pack is not finished yet—and their own may be the next target.
“Race you to the rocks?” Rhia points to the little collection of rocks well off the shoreline.
“They are further away than you think,” I try to warn her from experience, but she has already taken off.
As I soon realize, she is not only an excellent fighter but also a very good swimmer. I love it. I am a decent swimmer myself, but it is not exactly my strongest form of movement. Plus, I am still a little slower than usual. At least that is what I am telling myself as I try hard to keep up with Rhia.
I am right behind her, but there is no hiding my labored breathing when we reach the rocks. On warm days, my friends and I love to climb onto the smooth stones and sunbathe. Unfortunately, it’s not quite warm enough for that yet.
Unlike me, Rhia is not even a little winded, and I admire her strength. “You’re an amazing athlete. I can’t wait to see what you can do without the necklace,” I grin at her.
‘Oooh, well she’s hot!’ Hunter’s voice comes through the mind link, and I let out a growl. Turning to the tree line behind me, I easily spot his wolf in the bushes.
‘Leave now, or I will end you! This is your future luna!’
‘Jealous, huh? Relax, man, I was just going for a quick hunt. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it.’ His wolf actually gives me a wink before he turns around.
“Are you coming in?” As I turn back around, Rhia is already swimming away from the shore.
We head back at a slower pace, leisurely swimming next to each other.
“Do you think they would mind if we skipped the communal dinner tonight?” Rhia asks.
“Not in the mood for a crowd?”
“Not really. It’s just all a little much,” she shrugs, then adds quickly: “I’m sorry, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I am looking forward to spending more time with your pack. Just not quite yet.”
“You need some time to process everything, I get it.”
She gives me a questioning look when I reach for her hand before I get up, pulling her with me. The contact sends tingles up my arm. “We need to head back and talk to our parents if we want to avoid dinner. They might whip us and throw us in the dungeon, and I don’t think I could take that.” I wink at her to make sure she knows I am joking about that last part.
She chuckles, gripping my hand a little tighter. We are silent on our way to the packhouse, and it feels good to be walking with her like this. Her smaller hand fits into mine just right.
When Ann D. Lang isn’t writing, she can be found with her family and her cats — who treat everyone in the house as their personal servants and are entirely unbothered by deadlines. A lifelong lover of paranormal romance in all its forms, from vampire courts and fae kingdoms to witch covens and wolf pack politics, she has spent years falling in love with other people’s worlds — and one day simply decided to open the doors to a world of her own.
How to stand beside a man like Alaric Kostas—heir to an empire built on blood—and never let him see where I could break.
And for a while, I didn’t.
Because Alaric didn’t destroy what belonged to him.
He protected it.
Controlled it.
Closed his hand around it until there was nowhere left to run.
I let him.
I let him build a world around me that looked like devotion and felt like ownership.
Until the night I saw something I was never meant to see.
That was the night the illusion died.
The night I stopped being his perfect wife, and remembered exactly what I was capable of becoming.
🚨 Author’s Note
This is a dark romance and explores themes of power, control, and betrayal, including one instance of infidelity.
This is a duet, and the central couple’s HEA unfolds in Book 2.
SS Rayne writes dark romance filled with betrayal, obsession, morally gray characters, and emotionally complicated love stories that refuse to mellow.
Inspired by psychological thrillers, crime dramas, and the beautifully disastrous side of human emotion, her books explore toxic devotion, dangerous power dynamics, feminine rage, and the thin line between love and ruin.
When she isn’t writing destructive fictional couples, she’s usually reading, spending time with her family, wrangling animals, and losing arguments with the morally questionable voices in her head demanding she writes their story.
Operations Manager Carli Porter runs The Lochwell as if it were her own and is fiercely protective of the community she’s built within its walls. But when the building’s owner sends in his best friend to evaluate its future, Caril finds herself fighting to keep everything she loves from slipping away. Left with no other option, she’s forced to team up with Alexander Grassi, the very man who could decide the building’s fate. Readers who enjoy steamy, he-falls-first romances will devour Fight It Until We Can’t by Cissy Mecca & Tina Gallagher, a small-town, rivals-to-lovers romance.
She’s the operations manager who will make sure he doesn’t.
Carli Porter runs The Lochwell like it’s hers. The coffee shop is her living room. Its book club members are her family. The residents are her friends. The pub is her Friday night. The only problem? The building belongs to someone else, and that someone just sent his best friend to decide its fate.
Alexander Grassi is smart and annoyingly hard to hate. He also has the kind of forearms that make it very difficult to stay mad at him. (She’s tried. It hasn’t worked.) He’s supposed to write a report, hand it over to his friend and leave. He wasn’t supposed to start showing up to trivia night. Or turning her coffee cup so the handle faces her. Or looking at her like she’s the best thing in a building full of things worth saving.
She says his report could ruin her life.
He says she’s not wrong.
She says that’s makes him the last person she should want around.
He says he’s staying anyway.
Because some legacies (and people) are worth fighting for.
Copyright 2026, Author Cissy Mecca & Author Tina Gallagher
“Did you tell her?” Chris asked Vee as he emerged from the small kitchen at the back of the shop.
“Tell me what?” I asked. Vee slid two coffees toward Maria Grazia and me.
“Only that the hottest guy I’ve ever seen was asking for you earlier,” Chris said. “He wasn’t just hot. He was extraordinarily hot. Casual, buttoned-up, perfect hair, two days shadow with a smile that could melt polar ice-caps kind of hot”.
“I know the man looking for you. And can guess why he’s here,” Maria said. She set her cup down. That small, deliberate gesture told me more than her words had. “He’s a good man,” she added carefully. “His mother is one of my dearest friends. But good men can still be sent to do difficult things”.
Before I could figure that out, or even take another sip of coffee, he stepped into the coffee shop. At least, I assumed it was him. But since the Brew didn’t often see extraordinarily hot men with smiles that could melt polar ice-caps every day, I assumed that was probably him. His light blue buttoned-down shirt was open, no tie, but the casual tan sport coat still gave him a polished appearance. Honestly? Chris’s description was overall pretty spot-on.
He scanned the room, his gaze pausing when it reached us. He smiled at Maria Grazia and headed our way.
“I’m thinking this is Carli?” he asked her.
“You didn’t tell me you planned to meet with her, Xander”. Maria Grazia’s tone was sharper than usual.
“I don’t have an appointment,” he turned his attention to me. His eyes were hazel, in the best way possible. “And honestly didn’t think I’d actually find her. You get around.” Xander stuck his hand out. “Alexander Grassi”.
A firm handshake from someone accustomed to shaking hands. “Carlina Porter,” I responded, defaulting to my full name, as I did when I met someone new.
“I’m a property analyst,” he said.
Before I could fully register that, Maria Grazia added, “And one of Graeme Lochwell’s best friends”.
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Property analyst. Graeme Lochwell’s best friend. Both pieces landed separately, and then all at once, the way bad news always did. I looked at Xander. He wasn’t smiling anymore either. Whatever this morning had been before… Lou’s Instagram, AnnMarie’s bathtub, the abandoned coffee cup on some forgotten high top… it had just become the least of my problems.
About Cissy Mecca
A “recovering” 8th-grade teacher and curriculum consultant with a PhD in Language & Literacy, Cecelia loves writing high-heat, emotionally charged romance. The Brands (The Mecca Romance Multiverse): Cissy Mecca: Contemporary Romance, Cecelia Mecca: Medieval and Scottish Historical Romance. C.L. Mecca: Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Mecca Romance Signature Style: Heroines: Bold, strong women who fall hard but never lose their identity. Heroes: High-heat, protective, and intense. Vibe: Visceral, sensory-rich escapes… from family-owned vineyards to the war-torn Anglo-Scottish borders. Other Info: Representation: Katie Reed (Katie Reed Literary) Personal: Married, two teens, Disney enthusiast, traveler, and wine lovers Authority: PhD background makes her an excellent guest for craft-focused podcasts or literacy-based panels.
Tina Gallagher grew up and continues to live in Northeast Pennsylvania. As a tween, she and her best friend would create happily ever afters for their favorite soap opera couples. Eventually, the soap operas lost their appeal, but the writing never did. Before living her dream as a full-time author, she worked a spectrum of jobs ranging from baking and cake decorating to marketing and project management. In between creating memorable characters, traveling, and taking pole dance lessons, Tina enjoys spending time with her two grown children and Golden Irish named Thea.
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan brings you a new standalone series surrounding the Nashville Rampage football team. Risk the Play is a single mom, coach, best friend’s dad, forbidden, secret-relationship, age-gap romance.
Will
Football was always simple—follow the playbook, make the sacrifice, win the game.
I lived by that rule for decades, and it cost me everything. My marriage. My daughter.
By ten, she believed I loved the game more than her. Now she’s back in my life—with a family of her own—I fight every day to show her I’ve changed.
Then I fumble it all by falling for her best friend.
Amanda is strong, stubborn, and raising her daughter alone after her husband’s betrayal.
One kiss becomes something neither of us can ignore.
She wants to keep it secret. I don’t.
Because this time, I’m willing to risk the play. I won’t lose my second chance at love.
Amanda
I always knew I wanted to be a mother. I just never planned on doing it alone.
But when my ex got his assistant pregnant, I stopped, waiting for the life I thought I’d have—and choose motherhood for myself.
Now I’m a single mom doing my best to build a quiet, steady life with no drama and no risks.
Until my best friend’s father becomes the one risk I can’t resist.
Coach Warner is disciplined, respected… and completely off limits.
Watching him fight for his daughter only makes falling for him more dangerous.
We tell ourselves it’s just once.
But one reckless kiss turns into a night we can’t take back—and a secret we definitely can’t afford to keep.
Because if we’re discovered, I could lose my best friend…
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan has been crowned the Queen of Swoon by her readers. With nearly fifty romance books under her belt, she’s known for penning happily ever afters with heart. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand or hanging out with her family where she resides in her home state of Ohio.
Some men are born drifters. Others are just waiting to find their way home.
Loss is tough.
Some learn to live with the grief and move on.
I couldn’t.
There were too many memories.
It hurt too damn much, so I packed up and left.
I spent years trying to outrun my ghosts
And then, a threat drew me back in.
It wasn’t my fight.
Hell, it wasn’t even my chapter.
I was only in Little Rock to deliver a warning.
I never intended to stay.
And I certainly never intended to meet her.
She was beautiful and soft in all the ways that can undo a man.
And she unraveled me without even trying.
I had no business getting tied up with her, but I couldn’t stay away.
She reminded me what it was like to have something worth living for.
Now, I had to make a choice.
Stay lost or find my way home.
Drifter is an emotional, slow-burn romance about grief, healing, the real meaning of family, and learning that loving again doesn’t have to mean letting go. HEA and no cheating.
Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Seller, L. Wilder, writes about hot, alpha men and the women who love them. She currently has six series available for readers: The Devil Chaser’s MC, Satan’s Fury MC, Satan’s Fury MC-Memphis, the Redemption Series, the Happy Endings Collection, and the Ruthless Sinners MC. If you’re looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you smiling like a school girl at the end, L. Wilder is the author for you.
Kathy Lyons’ new small paranormal romance, BOUND BY THE GUARDIAN, is available now! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!
Title: BOUND BY THE GUARDIAN
Author: Kathy Lyons
Genre: Paranormal Romance
About BOUND BY THE GUARDIAN:
Her nephew vanished. His bear will hunt.
When Becca Weitz’s teenage ward disappears, she turns to the one man who terrifies her—Carl Carman, the brooding camp director with more secrets than answers.
Carl knows what happened. Theo shifted into a grizzly for the first time, triggering a deadly hunt. Mad scientists want the boy for their experiments, and as alpha of the Michigan bear clan, Carl will destroy anyone who threatens his people.
Protecting Theo means bringing Becca into his dangerous world. But the single mom baker is stronger than Carl expected—and the connection blazing between them could be their greatest weapon or their fatal weakness.
She’s human. He’s alpha. Their enemies want them both dead.
Kathy Lyons lives in the wild, adventurous mind of USA TODAY bestselling author Jade Lee. A lover of all things fantastical, Kathy spent much of her childhood in Narnia, Middle Earth, Amber, and Earthsea, just to name a few. “There is nothing I adore more than to turn around on an ordinary day and experience something magical. It happens all the time in real life and in my books.” Her love of comedy came later as she began to see the ridiculousness in life.
Winner of several industry awards including the Prism—Best of the Best, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and Fresh Fiction’s Steamiest Read, Kathy and her other pennames have published over 80 romance novels and sold over a million copies.
Her hobbies include racquetball, rollerblading, and tv/movie watching with her husband. She’s a big fan of the Big Bang Theory (even though it’s over) and her favorite movie is The Avengers because she loves everything created by Joss Whedon. And she’d love to share all things geek with you in person at any of her many appearances. She’s usually found at the loudest table in the coffee shop or next to the dessert bar.
She was supposed to find her fated mate under the full moon.
Instead, she is ordered to bond with a stranger.
The full moon after Rhia’s twentieth birthday was meant to be the happiest night of her life. Among wolf shifters, it is the first full moon after turning twenty when a wolf might finally recognize the mate chosen by the Moon Goddess.
Rhia has always hoped that mate would be Caleb, the boy she has loved for years.
But when an entire neighboring pack is brutally wiped out, everything changes.
Fearing they could be next, the Red Moon Pack forms a desperate alliance with the powerful Silver Lake Pack. And alliances between alpha families require one thing above all else: a mating bond.
As the only unmated alpha daughter of Red Moon, Rhia’s future is decided for her. Instead of discovering her fated mate under the coming full moon, she is ordered to form a bond with Jalen, the future alpha of Silver Lake.
Leaving her home, her family, and the life she thought she would have.
Jalen never wanted a forced bond any more than Rhia did. But protecting their packs comes before everything. What neither of them expected was the instant pull between them, a connection that feels far too real to be political.
But if the Moon Goddess had a plan for their bond all along, it may be because the Dark Pack is not finished yet—and their own may be the next target.
“Race you to the rocks?” Rhia points to the little collection of rocks well off the shoreline. “They are further away than you think,” I try to warn her from experience, but she has already taken off. As I soon realize, she is not only an excellent fighter but also a very good swimmer. I love it. I am a decent swimmer myself, but it is not exactly my strongest form of movement. At least that is what I am telling myself as I try hard to keep up with Rhia. I am right behind her, but there is no hiding my labored breathing when we reach the rocks. Unlike me, Rhia is not even a little winded, and I admire her strength. “You’re an amazing athlete. I can’t wait to see what you can do without the necklace,” I grin at her. “Are you coming in?” As I turn back around, Rhia is already swimming away from the shore. ‘Oooh, well she’s hot!’ Hunter’s voice comes through the mind link. ‘Leave now, or I will end you! This is your future luna!’ His wolf actually gives me a wink before he turns around.
When Ann D. Lang isn’t writing, she can be found with her family and her cats — who treat everyone in the house as their personal servants and are entirely unbothered by deadlines. A lifelong lover of paranormal romance in all its forms, from vampire courts and fae kingdoms to witch covens and wolf pack politics, she has spent years falling in love with other people’s worlds — and one day simply decided to open the doors to a world of her own.
Alexa Rivers’ new small town romantic suspense, NO ONE BUT YOU, is available now! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!
Title: NO ONE BUT YOU
Author: Alexa Rivers
Genre: Small Town Romantic Suspense
About NO ONE BUT YOU:
My best friend’s brother will never love me back, but when I stumble into danger, he seems determined to protect me, whatever the risk.
The last thing I expect when I go hiking in the forest near Destiny Falls is to end up bloody, battered, and left for dead.
When the subject of my endless pining–handsome Dr. Max Braddock–insists on caring for me, I wonder if my luck is changing, but it isn’t long before the people behind my attack realize I’m still alive.
I can’t afford to be distracted by Max’s soft smiles and gentle touch. Not when someone is hunting me. If we don’t find out who they are and what they want, our blossoming relationship–and our lives–might end all too soon.
If you loved the charm of Virgin River and the intrigue of Ginny & Georgia, then you might enjoy NO ONE BUT YOU.
Scroll up to buy your copy of this small town romantic suspense now!
Alexa Rivers writes about genuine characters living messy, imperfect lives and earning hard-won happily ever afters. Most of her books are set in small towns, and she lives in one of these herself. She shares a house with a neurotic dog and a husband who thinks he’s hilarious.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, baking, eating too much chocolate, cuddling fluffy animals, drinking excessive amounts of tea, and absorbing herself in fictional worlds.
Under the penname A. Rivers, Alexa also writes steamy romance books with take-charge heroes and strong heroines who aren’t afraid to fight the odds for love.
If you’d like to keep up to date with her books and news, subscribe to both her newsletters today
Tropes: Friends with Benefits Agreement; Childhood Enemies; Curvy Heroine; Grumpy x Sunshine
Release Date: June 1, 2026
Cover Design: Artscandare
Model: Jonny James
Photographer: Wander Aguiar
Crawling back home with my tail between my legs was not the way I saw my life going.
I had it all.
A fantastic job. A fiancée who adored me, and a life any man would dream of.
That’s about the time it all fell apart.
But Montana has a way of healing all wounds, from the beautiful sunrises to the fresh mountain air.
Sure, my father still hated me for leaving. My mother still defended him at every turn.
And the gossip…
It was enough to drive me insane.
And then I sat next to her at The Beaver and Boot.
Gorgeous, curvy, full of life, and so easy to talk to.
She was perfect.
Until I realized she was the same girl I tormented as a kid.
Yep, I was that boy who didn’t know how to tell a girl he liked her, so he picked on her. And boy, did she let me know how much she hated me.
Every Tuesday and Thursday night.
But the one thing she couldn’t ignore was the undeniable chemistry when my body was pressed against hers.It was only supposed to be a friends with benefits situation, but she wormed her way into my head, and made it impossible to ignore my own Foolish Pride.
I’m a stay at home mom that loves to read. Some of my favorite titles are Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Horatio Hornblower. I started writing when I was trying to come up with suggestions on ways I could help bring in some extra money. I came up with the idea that I could donate plasma because you could earn an extra $500/month. My husband responded with, “No. Find something else. Write a blog. Write a book.” I didn’t think I had anything to share on blog that a thousand other mothers hadn’t already thought of. I decided to take his challenge seriously and sat down to write my first book, Jack. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed writing. From there, the stories continued to flow and I haven’t been able to stop. I hope my readers enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them. Between reading, writing, and taking care of three small kids, my days are quite full.
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