Every day from now through the end of the year, we’ll be sharing our reviewers’ favorite reads of 2018. A different genre will be featured every day! We’ll share why these books were some of our favorites and what made them so special. We hope you’ll share yours in the comments, too! Today, we have our favorite contemporary romances of the year. Let us know what you think of our picks… HOME ON HUCKLEBERRY HILL by Jennifer Beckstrand Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill #9 Reviewer: Clare O’Beara I enjoyed this lighthearted Amish romance greatly, with its points about what a wife can expect from her husband and how she can support herself even in traditional households. Romance | Christian | Amish [Zebra, On Sale: June 26, 2018, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781420144154 / eISBN: 9781420144161] When a marriage breakup is imminent, the matchmakers get to work Buy HOME ON HUCKLEBERRY HILL: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR  *** JOSH AND HAZEL’S GUIDE TO NOT DATING by Christina Lauren Reviewer: Svetlana…

The Holiday Acres series is set during a snowstorm just before Christmas, when three of the Holiday sisters get stranded with the men they’ve not yet admitted feelings for. The series is fun and romantic, but it also explores how healing and reconciliation can happen over time, since the two families involved have been in a long-standing feud. The first book in the series, Stranded on the Beach, is set during the summer before Christmas and is about how Rebecca Holiday and Phil Matheson, who broke up years ago because of their families’ fighting, are able to come back to together. The second book, Stranded in the Snow, is about how Olivia Holiday and Scott Matheson act like they hate each other but finally admit they are in love. The third book, Stranded in the Woods, is about Penny Holiday and her old friend, Kent Matheson, who has been a recluse for years but finally comes out of hiding because of his love for Penny. And the final book, Stranded for Christmas, is about how stubborn, jaded Laura Holiday, the oldest of the sisters, finally admits that she’s in love with her business partner, Russ. I hope you enjoy this…

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Christmas carols played softly in the background. The scent of spiced cider perfumed the air. Shoppers munched happily on gingerbread cookies and perused the bookshelves for that perfect gift. Dr. Jenna Stockton imagined ripping the halo off the angel’s head and choking her with it. Instead, she reached deep within herself for patience and managed to find a smile for the costumed character behind the bookstore counter. “If I could speak with your manager, please?” “She’s awfully busy.” Jenna thought of the ridiculous length of her own to-do list as she fought to keep her smile from turning into a sneer. “Yes, well, it’s that time of year, isn’t it? Your manager?” The little angel gave a haughty sniff, and then said, “If you’ll step out of line, please?” Without missing a beat, the angel turned a bright smile toward the woman waiting behind Jenna. “I’m so sorry for this unfortunate delay, ma’am. I’ll be as quick as I possibly can.” Jenna didn’t snarl like a rabid dog. She didn’t. She smiled at the woman behind her in line. Sweetly. Without canines. The woman and the four people behind her each gave Jenna an annoyed glower. She gave them all…

Nerds use to get a bad rap, but I think these days, nerds are everywhere. It’s completely acceptable to be a nerd and society has embarrassed it. When you decide to write a series on a team of professional video gamers, you’ve already hit nerd level. I think most people have it in them to “nerd out” in some aspect of their life, whether it be over a show, book series, hobby, or movie. After writing three books featuring three super sexy gamer boys, I’ve compiled a list of five reasons why you should date (or marry) a nerd. Nerds Treat Their Girl Right – Nerds don’t expect to have a girlfriend because a lot of times they are so quirky, it takes a special girl to find their nerdy obsessions (nerdom) endearing. So, when they have a special gal in their life, they treat her right and go out of their way to make her feel special. Endless Supply of Movie Quotes – Let’s face it, nerds are always spouting off movie and TV quoted. Pop culture usually is their jam. Think of all those Super Troopers quotes you could have fun with at that next super boring family…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present L.J. Evans! WRITES: I write…well, lots of genres, but they all have some kind of romance wrapped into them. My current standalone series, MY LIFE AS AN ALBUM, is contemporary romance. It started with a coming-of-age romance and is ending with a new adult slow burn. I’ve been accused of making people cry with my words, and I’m only half sorry for it.  Each book in this series was inspired by music and each chapter is really a song title where the words of the song speak to what the characters are going through. If you like music and romance, then you’ll, hopefully, love how they collide in these books. ABOUT AUTHOR: Sappy, romantic writer seeks fans of beautiful lyrics and touching words to read a series that is full of raw emotions and happy endings. After being a victim of “love at first sight” herself and being joyfully married for twenty-five years, the writer feels qualified to share a few happily…

Music is a big part of my writing experience, along with dancing, whenever the mood strikes. My playlists are an eclectic mix of genres. Hip-hop, pop, rap, reggaeton, jazz, country, classical—they’re all part of my music selections. The perfect song can put me in the right headspace and drown out any competing thoughts that get in the way of my productivity. I become lost in the music as well as the story while I’m writing. From a practical standpoint, it also blocks out my upstairs neighbors when they get too loud. A killer playlist becomes the soundtrack for my story and often reflects the attitudes of my characters, along with the ups and downs they face. For instance, in THE FIRST RULE OF HOOK-UPS, as I thought about Alexa and her friends at the Breakup Bash—a party held at Club Escapade to help women get over one man and move onto a better one—a few of Beyoncé’s songs about women and empowerment came to mind. And in the book, when the DJ cues up a line dance song and Alexa joins in, the “Cupid Shuffle” was playing through my headphones. Music also helped in imagining Raphael, a retired male dancer…

Falling in love is not limited to twenty-somethings. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading about young love. I was there once. It can be passionate, heart-wrenching, and exhilarating. But emotions don’t dry up when a character reaches the age of thirty or thirty-five. People over that age are still vibrant and passionate—in real life, and on the page. Mature characters in romances might have lost a partner through death or divorce, or they may have never found the right person or the right time for a relationship. Usually, they are comfortable with themselves and the lives they’ve built so they may not be all that eager to throw another person into the mix, no matter how wildly attracted they are to them. I enjoy writing what some call seasoned romance, romances with characters no longer in their twenties. But traditionally, the romance industry has favored young romances, and the word going around was that readers didn’t want to read love stories with characters who weren’t in the bloom of youth. Things are changing slowly, but I’ve discovered that there is a growing readership who are looking for romances with older characters. Older characters have more life experiences to bring…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Elle Keating!  Writes: I write contemporary romance that tends to be steamy, gritty and heavy on the angst. I love torturing my readers, making them believe that all hope is lost, that my couple in no way shape or form can recover from whatever split them apart and then…bam! My hero and heroine find the happy ending they deserve. My most recent endeavor is Feels Like Falling (November 13th), a romance about a winery owner who has a past that keep him from really living, and an international fashion model who has secrets of her own. About: Romance writer seeks readers of stories packed with raw emotion, fierce heroines, and heroes who are willing to wear their hearts on their sleeves and fight for the women they love. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Enjoys heroines who are not sickeningly sweet, refuse to be a doormat (especially to the hero) and give as good as they get.   Has…

I have to admit, I am always alternately excited and confused when my publisher decides one of my books falls under the romantic comedy heading. Excited because rom-coms are my favorite type of romance. Confused because I don’t really set out to write comedy. Why? Because comedy is hard. It’s not that I don’t think I’m funny. I mean, if I can still make my teenagers laugh, but not laugh at me, I must be doing something right in the live comedy department. But in my experience, written comedy is a whole other ball game. And kind of like a five-year-old who is trying to learn to tell jokes, when I try to write comedy, it comes off stilted and…not funny. So rather than try to write comedy, I aim to write people the way people around me actually talk. Yet, I tend to fall back on two of my comedic influences when writing anyway. The first (love him, hate him, or try to ignore the bad stuff about him) is Joss Whedon. I’m going to take a stab in the dark that, like me, he doesn’t really consider himself a comedy writer. However, most of his work has strong…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Denise Swanson! Writes: I write contemporary romance. I would say they are sexy, but sweet. I like to include lots of feels, but not too much angst. I want to warm your heart more than rip it to pieces. My most recent book is Dangerously Delicious a Delicious Love romance about a nightclub owner who has recently decided he wants to find his forever woman, and a wildlife veterinarian who loves her furbabies more than most people. About: Country girl seeks fans of sweet sexy romances who appreciate strong heroines, and the alpha heroes who are smart enough to love them. Author writes such stories because she has been fortunate to live her own happily ever after with her hero husband who she met in high school. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Knows that strong women aren’t weakened by loving (and learning to lean on) the right man. Has a weakness for hero and heroine who…