Dog-Eared Daydreams

Whisper Sweet Nothings (Rosewood River #6) by Laura Pavlov Release Date: February 24, 2026 About Whisper Sweet Nothings A small town, single dad, nanny, age gap standalone romance from USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author Laura Pavlov. Winnie Smith is the perfect nanny. She’s reliable, warm, and my daughter adores her. She cooks like a pro, styles pigtails like a fairy godmother, and knows her way around a car engine better than most mechanics. She’s made life easier. The house feels full again. And maybe… so do I. But living under the same roof has its challenges. Like catching her in the kitchen after midnight… barefoot, in tiny sleep shorts, eating ice cream straight from the tub. Don’t even get me started on the way that her lips wrapped around that spoon. I digress. It shouldn’t mean anything. She’s a decade younger. I’m her boss. She’s off-limits. And yet, it’s all I can think about. I was just looking for a nanny—not nightly cold showers and definit...

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author. Time, indeed, flies when you're having fun, and I had a blast seeing each of the Chadwick men fall in love via Laura Pavlov's Rosewood River  series. With the sixth book's release, the series wraps up, and while it's bittersweet, as is often the case with a beloved series, Pavlov certainly ends things on a high note. Whisper Sweet Nothings  is Archer Chadwick's story, and this single father's world revolves primarily around his precocious five-year-old daughter, Melody. As much help as he gets from his family, the thirty-four-year-old commercial broker knows having a live-in nanny could be life-changing, especially with his brokerage business picking up. That's where Winnie Smith comes in. She's twenty-four, recently divorced, and starting over in Rosewood River. She quickly proves herself to be indispensable, forging a close-knit bond with Melody and going above and beyond. Being a nanny...

The Hotshot (The Dugout #1) by Piper Rayne Release Date: February 17, 2026 About The Hotshot Raising my cousin’s three kids wasn’t in my five-year plan. Actually, it wasn’t in any plan. One minute I’m a single labor and delivery nurse living a quiet life and the next, I’m navigating guardianship hearings, meltdowns, and homework I’m pretty sure requires a math degree. Enter Hayes Carlisle. My best friend’s older brother. Chicago Colts newest catcher. And the man I once kissed and immediately pretended I didn’t. So, when the custody battle I’ve been dreading becomes a reality, I shouldn’t be surprised that Hayes swoops in with a wild idea—a fake relationship. According to him, pretending we’re together will polish his image and prove to the court I’m not taking on an instant family alone. But pretending to be Hayes’ girlfriend is a terrible idea. Because he remembers how to make me laugh. Because he looks at me like our kiss wasn’t a one-time mistake. Because th...

Owning Jett (Made Marian Legacy #3) by Lucy Lennox Release Date: February 17, 2026 About Owning Jett Two weeks. One villa. A dangerous game of seduction and lies. My job is simple: get close, get the intel, get out. Then Locke Maris walks into my op. He’s cold. Controlled. Heir to a billion-dollar shipping fortune. And so aggressively straight he doesn’t even look at me twice… Until he does. Locke makes me an offer: play his assistant by day, be his secret lover by night, at a house party where the world’s elite will gather to sip champagne, enjoy the Italian sun… and play a dangerous game called Paxis. In this ancient variation of chess, humans are pawns and each coded move could start or stop wars. I should report this to my agency immediately. Walk away clean. But I can’t walk away. Because in the privacy of his suite, the moves Locke makes are just as dangerous, the words he murmurs in my ear as devastating, and the growing devotion I feel as destructive as an...

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the authors via Valentine PR. I've been looking forward to the first book in Piper Rayne's new spin-off series ever since it was first hinted at. From housing football players with the Chicago Grizzlies and being called The Den to it being home to the hockey players with the Chicago Falcons and dubbed The Nest, the condo building in Chicago is now The Dugout, which also happens to be the title of the series. And yes, you guessed it--we've got baseball! First at bat is The Hotshot , a falling-for-your-sibling's-best-friend--or alternatively, falling-for-your-best-friend's-sibling--romance between a baseball player looking for a fresh start with his hometown team and a labor and delivery nurse who goes from single to caring for her cousin's children. Being named the guardian to her cousin's three kids was something thirty-year-old Leighton Sinclair wasn't necessarily prepared for. Her new life may not ...

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author. Owning Jett  is the third novel in the Made Marian Legacy  series, and this go-around, Lucy Lennox adds a healthy dose of intrigue to the romance between Jett Marian and Locke Maris. The first time these two meet, Jett recognizes the shipping magnate, even though thirty-year-old Locke hasn't been at the helm of Maris Holdings all that long. On the other hand, Locke tries to feign disinterest in the exotic dancer who introduces himself as Jethro Davis, which turns out to be quite a feat considering the lap dance being given to him by the twenty-three-year-old turned out to be rather...illuminating. So, four years after, Locke makes an offer that Jett knows he should refuse: fly with him to Italy, be his assistant during the day, and explore their intense attraction at night. Guests will be arriving, but they aren't there just to bask in everything the Mediterranean has to offer. An interesting motley crew of not...

Accidental Runaway Groom (Clover Lake #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan Release Date: February 9, 2026 About Accidental Runaway Groom I picked up a groom on the side of the road on the way to a wedding. One problem: I wasn’t the bride. And he didn’t mean to run away. Sometimes things happen for a reason and six months later, I’m back in Clover Lake and Sharp McBride is single, not-so-heartbroken, and my new best friend. Only neither one of us wants to be just friends. I don’t know where his heart belongs, and I don’t want to be the person to break what’s left. Yet I’m only in town for a short time and I’m not sure I’m made for small time life. And if we’re not careful, this time I might have to be the one who runs away. Accidental Runaway Groom is a next generation, grump rancher, friends to lovers, not-what-you-think romance set in the Montgomery World & Clover Lake series featuring Jamie Montgomery & Sharp McBride. Each book can be read as a complete standalone. A...

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author. Back to Wyoming we go, to a small town called Clover Lake, for the second book in Carrie Ann Ryan's series by the same name. Accidental Runaway Groom  is the story of Jamie Montgomery and Sharp McBride. She's the daughter of Sierra Elder and Austin Montgomery, whose own happily-ever-after plays out in Delicate Ink , the first book in Ryan's Montgomery Ink  series--yup, the OG! She's also the cousin of Livvy, the female main character of the Clover Lake  series starter, Always a Fake Bridesmaid ; on the other hand, Sharp is the younger brother of Ewan, Livvy's now-husband. Jamie and Sharp meet when she picks him up from the side of the road--on the day of his wedding. The same wedding that he's extremely late for. Six months later, Jamie's back in Clover Lake, and the former not-quite-runaway groom is very much single. The two forge a kinship, one that refuses to be kept in the friend zone. Ho...

Sweet Obsession (Sins of the Father #3) by Riley Hart Release Date: February 5, 2026 About Sweet Obsession Rory I’m beginning to unravel. When I meet Shai Burrows, he intrigues me enough that he has me stalking him, following him, watching him. And when I find out he’s the one who robbed me, instead of handling business, it only makes me obsess over him even more. But I can’t just let him get away with that, so we cut a deal. Shai will work off what he owes me, with his body, something he’s as eager about as I am. Because after that first touch, our worlds collide. We get off on danger and seek trouble we’re not supposed to find. He craves my body, and though I don’t understand it, I know I want him by my side. He’s my obsession, and I can’t help but want more. In fact, I want it all. And I’ll take it. Our world is violent and chaotic. I’ve always reveled in that, but I’m risking it all now. I need to learn control because if I lose him, no one will be able to p...