Stuck In Books

The Awful Truth
Melanie Summers
(The Glass Houses Collection, #2)
Publication date: September 24th 2026
Genres: Adult, Suspense, Thriller, Women’s Fiction

They have money. Status. And terrible judgment.

It was supposed to be the ultimate escape. A curated guest list. A luxury yacht. A week on the crystal-clear Adriatic, far from everyone’s real lives.

Except no one is there for the view. Careers, contracts, and futures are all quietly in play.

Antonia and Ted have built a global brand on their perfect marriage, which would be more convincing if they could still stand each other. Mercy has spent years smoothing over the worst instincts of her powerful husband, convinced the man she fell in love with is still there. Winslow is hiding a secret that could end his career, while his husband, Miguel, is carrying news that will change everything between them.

And then there’s Charlotte—the assistant everyone overlooks. Which gives her an excellent view of everything.

The first night, the drinks flow, the gossip gets vicious, and everyone shares far more than they should. But what’s a little indiscretion among new friends?

The trouble with a yacht is that there’s nowhere to go once you’ve said too much. No separate hotels. No quick exits. Just the same people, fewer places to hide, and another breakfast together in the morning.

By the third day, one marriage is as good as over. One guest is desperate enough to do something irreversible. And Mercy is realizing the man she loved was all for show—and the man she fears is who he really is.

Before any of them set foot on solid ground again, one of them will be dead in the water.

Privilege has protected them from consequences for years. But desperation can make even very comfortable people do terrible things.

The Awful Truth is a sharp, warm, wickedly funny domestic suspense novel about marriage, power, and the spectacularly bad decisions people make when they have everything to lose. For readers who love the wit and heart of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth, with the glamor and menace of The White Lotus.

Heat Level: Open door, spicy not explicit
Tone: A fast-paced, suspenseful, emotional, character-driven drama
Series Type: Standalone, part of a collection of domestic suspense novels
Ending: Emotionally satisfying, book club / upmarket resolution
POV: Multi-POV, third person
Content Notes: Infidelity, emotional abuse dynamics, death, suicidal ideation, brief sexual violence, psychological tension

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Charlotte sat back, tuning out the conversation while she stared out at the hills and smattering of buildings along the highway. So far, the city wasn’t much to look at. A lot of low brush and an irritating bank alongside the road that only allowed the briefest glimpse of the water. But soon, she’d be surrounded on all sides by the clear blue Adriatic Sea, and she felt a surge of excitement. It was her first time in Europe. As a teenager, she always thought she’d go right out of high school—backpacking and staying in hostels for a few months, really living, as her mother, who’d never gone farther than Niagara Falls from their home in Muskegon, would say. But in the end, Charlotte met a boy and decided he was more exciting than Italy and France and England combined. Only he wasn’t. He was a huge disappointment, and by the time she realized it, it was already move-in week at the University of Michigan.

So here she was, at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, getting her first taste of the ‘old world.’ This wasn’t how she imagined it (few things were)—sandwiched between her lover and her lover’s wife in the back of a limo—but this was how she had arrived. Charlotte was sleepy and mixed up and felt guilty as all hell, but she was here. She had made it. She’d take as many glamorous pics as she could to post on her Instagram account. Her friends would be filled with envy which they would mask with comments like, ‘Looking hot, mama!’ and ‘You deserve it. You work so hard. Have an amazing time, girlie!’

But she wouldn’t be having an amazing time, would she? She’d likely be working long hours—maybe even through the night—to liaise between the studio and her bosses, not to mention having a front row seat to the ‘Ted and Antonia pretending to be blissfully happy’ show, which she’d much rather skip. She knew it was all bullshit, at least on Ted’s part. An act meant to keep the multi-million-dollar ruse going. It was bad enough when they were on set and she had to watch them gaze into each other’s eyes and act like they were still in the playful honeymoon phase. Ted had warned her that they’d have to lay it on extra thick around Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, but not to let it get to her. Because he only wanted her.

None of that was stuff she could share on Instagram, or tell her friends, for that matter. She’d keep her secret and smile, like she always did. But at least she could pretend she was having a wonderful time.

Author Bio:

Melanie Summers also writes steamy romance as MJ Summers.

Melanie made a name for herself with her debut novel, Break in Two, a contemporary romance that cracked the Top 10 Paid on Amazon in both the UK and Canada, and the top 50 Paid in the USA. Her highly acclaimed Full Hearts Series was picked up by both Piatkus Entice (a division of Hachette UK) and HarperCollins Canada. Her first three books have been translated into Czech and Slovak by EuroMedia. Since 2013, she has written and published three novellas, and eight novels (of which seven have been published). She has sold over a quarter of a million books around the globe.

In her previous life (i.e. before having children), Melanie got her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, then went on to work in the soul-sucking customer service industry for a large cellular network provider that shall remain nameless (unless you write her personally – then she’ll dish). On her days off, she took courses and studied to become a Chartered Mediator. That designation landed her a job at the R.C.M.P. as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for ‘K’ Division. Having had enough of mediating arguments between gun-toting police officers, she decided it was much safer to have children so she could continue her study of conflict in a weapon-free environment (and one which doesn’t require makeup and/or nylons).

Melanie resides in Edmonton with her husband, three young children, and their adorable but neurotic one-eyed dog. When she’s not writing novels, Melanie loves reading (obviously), snuggling up on the couch with her family for movie night (which would not be complete without lots of popcorn and milkshakes), and long walks in the woods near her house. She also spends a lot more time thinking about doing yoga than actually doing yoga, which is why most of her photos are taken ‘from above’. She also loves shutting down restaurants with her girlfriends. Well, not literally shutting them down, like calling the health inspector or something–more like just staying until they turn the lights off.

She is represented by Suzanne Brandreth of The Cooke Agency International.

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The Awful Truth Blitz

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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

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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.

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Hidden Words Blitz

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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

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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.

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Forever Her Cowboy Blitz

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When Frost Was Spectre Grey
Nicola Italia
Publication date: August 30th 2026
Genres: Adult, Historical, Mystery

Yorkshire, 1881. Imogene York has one job: authenticate a dead man’s signature and witness the reading of his will. It should take an afternoon.

But the moment she arrives at Trelawney Grange, she can tell the people gathered to hear Lord Alaric Trelawney’s final wishes aren’t waiting on an inheritance. They’re waiting on something they’ve spent fifteen years hoping would stay buried.

Every person in that house-the doctor, the solicitor, the reverend, the aristocrat, the household staff who move through it like they were never there at all-is bound together by a secret from one terrible summer years before, and no one will say what it is. As the snow closes in and the will’s true purpose comes to light, Imogene realizes she wasn’t hired to verify a signature. She was hired to witness a reckoning fifteen years in the making, and there is no walking away from the past.

A gripping Victorian mystery about the debts the past never stops collecting, and the lengths people will go to keep a secret buried or to finally bring it to light.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

1866
London England
Prologue

He shivered as a draft moved through the room. He sorted through documents spread out before him, organizing them into careful piles. He thought about the conversation that had occurred and anger exploded inside his head. The upstart!

What did he know about anything? He, who had studied with Dr. John Snow, so renowned in his field. His throat was dry. He pulled the decanter of whiskey toward him and poured. The amber liquid splashed on a piece of paper but he brushed at it dismissively.

He drank it quickly and it seared his throat but he poured himself another. He contemplated the glass this time before drinking. He should have known. Those do-gooder types didn’t understand the true sacrifice he was making. They couldn’t see the big picture. They couldn’t see what was really happening. What he was trying to do. He set the glass back down without taking a sip and saw that his hand was shaking. Blast it! It had all been going so well. Why couldn’t they leave him alone? Now what.

He looked about the room. The draft no longer bothered him and he felt a sweat break out on his brow. There was much to do. But most importantly, he must find his medical notes. They had been right here on his desk. He was certain. It was a necessity. No one would have come into his room and removed them, had they? No. They wouldn’t dare.

He pondered it. Perhaps his assistant, the new fellow fresh from school, had simply moved them. No. He wouldn’t. He had expressly told him not to meddle with his things. He didn’t like it and he had everything just as he liked it. So where were they, dammit!

A knock sounded at the door and almost caused him to jump. The hour was late. Who could it be?

“It’s me,” the familiar male voice called out.

His benefactor. The one with all the purse strings. He must play the part at least for him.

“Just a moment,” he called back.

He looked at his reflection in the window and saw that his hair was disheveled. He took out a comb and quickly brushed his wavy hair in place. The desk was in disarray and he quickly placed the papers in neat stacks to show the appearance of order.

Jesus, what awful timing. He called the man to enter and the visitor did, looking about the room.

“Am I interrupting you?” the older man asked.

“Certainly not,” he replied. “I was looking for some misplaced medical notes. That blasted assistant must have moved them. I told him not to meddle.”

The older man settled himself into the red leather chair. “I wanted to speak with you privately. It’s important.” He swallowed visibly and appeared to be trying to find the words.

“The hour is quite late.”

“It is. You’ll forgive me.” The older man nodded. “I would have waited but—” He almost stumbled over his words.

“It must be something of great importance to bring you here at this late hour,” he noted.

His benefactor seemed to take in the words and almost seemed dazed. “Yes,” he said in agreement. “Something most concerning has reached my ears, most concerning,” he repeated for emphasis.

The man had no time for this. What’s more, he didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. It was irritating that in all of his important work, he had to give the man anything. For Christ’s sake! Didn’t this feather-head realize what was at stake? But he steeled himself and responded as he should.

“What is this concern?”

But instead of answering outright, his benefactor merely looked about the room. “I scarcely know where to begin.”

In a flash of blinding anger, he resisted the urge to stand up and reach over the table to slap the man’s face. Who did he think he was? How dare he presume anything? The man might have status and money but little else. Just because he had been born into the right family, what else did he have? Brains? Certainly not. If he had been born a common person, he would be selling fish at the docks.

But he calmed himself. He knew who he was. He was the one with brilliance and brains, decidedly so. He was the one who had risen and become the man he was today. He was the shining star. But he needed the older man’s patronage. He knew that. He would have to play the game, then, and pretend to care about whatever was preying on the man’s mind.

If the man told him something stupid like they had not enough places set at the dinner table or the china was mismatched, he might strangle him.

Instead, his expression stayed mild, untroubled. “Tell me the concern. Perhaps together we can alleviate the issue.”

Relief eased across his benefactor’s face. “Yes. This must be a mistake. It can’t be what I’ve been told. I heard something from my sister, but she can ramble. But then the vicar came to me—”

“Oh yes?”

“And the family solicitor—”

“Him as well? My, my,” he said, trying to pretend to care. “What is it they are saying? Tell me quick.”

He only hoped he would tell the story quickly so he could be on his way.

Then without preamble, his benefactor began to speak. He laid out the whole issue, the concerns, the rumors and the whispers that were being spoken about and how grave the matter was. He mentioned his sister’s concerns and a young man who had spoken to the solicitor’s son and on and on the man babbled. He thought if the man was a tenor opera singer, his aria would last thirty minutes. It was exhausting and supremely irritating.

“It’s fantastic – is it not?” His benefactor said. “Most fantastic. I can hardly fathom it myself. I told Delly she was ridiculous. She should know better than to pass on rumors.”

“That is – quite a story,” he agreed as he pulled the decanter to him once more. “Quite a story.”

He poured the man a drink and pushed it across the desk to him. He took up his glass from earlier and took a long sip. “What proof is there of these allegations?”

His benefactor’s shoulders dropped. “That’s just it. Some rumors and whispers. But as it’s reached my ears, as your benefactor, we must discuss it.”

“My, my.” He set his glass down. “And what are you prepared to do?”

“Get to the bottom of it!” His patron said passionately. “Good God, man! These are lies, slander! I’ll not have you slandered! You could sue in court. I’ll be your witness,” the older man’s face grew red with exertion.

“Very decent of you,” he murmured. He swirled the amber liquid in the glass absently. “Very decent of you indeed.”

“Of course, my dear chap,” the older man looked relieved. “Least I could do.”

The mantel clock chimed the half hour.

“That’s of course assuming these rumors are false,” he said quietly, taking another sip. “What if they are true?”

His benefactor looked slightly irritated. “This is no time for jests, old boy,” the older man said curtly. “The rumors are grave. I might even say macabre.”

“Macabre?” he echoed.

“Yes!”

But he just continued to stare at his patron while swirling the liquor in the glass.

“Wait. What are you – what are you saying?” His benefactor suddenly straightened up in his chair. “In plain English. Gentleman to gentleman. I demand you tell me what is happening.”

“Your witnesses speak the truth.”

The silence between the two men was deafening.

“No. No, that can’t be.” His patron grew pale.

“I assure you, it is,” he said, his mouth curving.

His benefactor suddenly looked sick in the low gas lights. “No. I- I don’t believe it,” he whispered.

“Well, you certainly don’t need to believe it.”

“But if the witnesses are correct, and the rumors are true,” he visibly swallowed, “you’re a—” He shook his head.

“Yes? Go on.” He was amused at the turn of conversation. The man was an idiot.

“You’re a monster.”

He sat back in his chair and surveyed his patron. “Come now. There’s no need for dramatics.”

But his benefactor stood up then. He looked flushed now.

“I demand you refute these rumors laid at your door! I demand it!”

Calmly without saying a word, he pulled a cigarette from his silver case and lit it. He took a long drag before responding. “The rumors are not rumors,” he said steadily. “Your witnesses are correct.”

The man’s face drained of color.

“I’m leaving tonight,” he told him. “There need not be any fuss or theatrics. I will leave quietly and continue my work in India. The matter will end and you will squash the rumors.”

“The hell I will!” His face was now mottled with anger. “The hell I will!”

He took another sip of whiskey completely unbothered by the man’s outburst.

“If these things are true, you should be imprisoned! Hanged even!”

“No, sir. I won’t be.”

“Why won’t you be?” The patron demanded.

“For the simple reason that you helped me. Your family helped me, your vicar helped me. You are complicit. Whether you like it or not,” he told him.

“No,” he whispered and fell into the chair. “I’m not. That’s not what I did. I thought – I thought you were helping. I thought you were a savior. We all thought that.”

“Hmph! Did you really? Or did you also want to be involved with the discovery of a lifetime?” he said coolly. “Perhaps you wanted to even take a bit of credit as my benefactor.”

His benefactor sputtered out several words but nothing made sense until he finally whispered, “How dare you?”

He poured himself another glass enjoying himself and the interaction. “So. As I said. I will leave quietly. You will let everyone know that I was called to India of the utmost importance, and nothing else will be said.”

“You can’t get away with this,” he said weakly. “You can’t.”

“My dear chap,” he said, his face showing no emotion. “I already have.”

Author Bio:

Nicola is a Los Angeles native. Early in elementary school, Nicola had a great fondness for reading and began to write creatively. She graduated from university with a degree in communications and has held a variety of positions in journalism, education, government and non profit.

Nicola has traveled extensively throughout Europe, China, Central America and Egypt and loves all things historical.

She has nineteen historical romance and mystery novels on Amazon.

https://linktr.ee/authornicolaitalia

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When Frost Was Spectre Grey Blitz

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In the Frame: A Fake Dating Queer MM Romance
Hayden Stone
(The London Arts Club, #2)
Publication date: August 29th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

An artist. A developer. And an art gallery which they both want—for very different reasons.

When recent uni grad Matty Gowen-Smith, a talented painter and not so talented bartender, spills a tray of drinks on a hot-shot investor, Florian de Ligt, he’s left with no choice to make amends. Especially after Matty ruins Florian’s suit on a big night out for Florian’s birthday.

Trying to make things right, broke artist Matty offers Florian his only suit in a desperate effort to not get fired from his job. Conveniently, Matty is flat sitting around the corner, where his one prized suit awaits his friend’s wedding next weekend. Not so conveniently, they are soon trapped together in an elevator at Matty’s flat, and things rapidly go from bad to worse until landing on an uneasy truce.

Which is where a pact is born to come right from this mess. Florian needs a date for an upcoming art gala, a world he knows little about. Matty desperately needs a respectable date for his friend’s Brighton wedding to prove he’s a success in his new London life.

Two fake dates and an unexpected kiss later, fake feelings begin to feel a bit too much like real feelings. Which wouldn’t be a problem if Florian wasn’t so determined to dismantle Matty’s art community by redeveloping a popular local art gallery into luxury condos. An art gallery which may give Matty the solo exhibition he’s dreamt of to launch his art career. And now Matty must choose between his community or what might be a real chance at love…

In the Frame, the second book in the London Arts Club series, features forced proximity, boy next door, and fake dating in a fun new adult romcom.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

The fact is I’m kind of a shit bartender in a not-so-shit London bar. A popular bar full of discerning hipsters with deep pockets and others who want to be seen. It’s my first Saturday night working here at my new job. Which is exactly what I need to be doing to bring in some cash, and not spending money I can’t afford on supplies from the local art shop around the corner in Soho.

Forget that my new boss has all the makings of a tyrannical dictator—one who already has me nestled comfortably in his crosshairs. It’s not all smooth sailing despite the luxurious queer glamour of Ivan’s. Dramatic high-coffered ceilings soar overhead with gleaming chandeliers, and chic paintings from highly successful contemporary artists hangs on dark walls. The last part’s like artisanal sea salt in a career-shaped wound.

I have no idea why they hired me. Aside from me technically being qualified for the job. And also technically having the right references.

I mean, they obviously needed another bartender, after one of their old ones left. Which is a reasonable thing for a bar to want to keep running smoothly and keep their customers in suggestively named cocktails, like Get Your Freak On or Banger Baby or classics like Sex on the Beach. But just because I gave them my resumé doesn’t automatically mean I’m the best man for the job.

Never mind. I’m here now and I need to get on with it. The paycheck will make up for my current suffering, and, at best, low-key competence.

Around me, the upscale bar glows with burnished wood counters, gleaming glassware, and a stylishly imposing pink neon display (saying you have arrived and it reminds me a little of Tracey Emin’s works in neon), accompanied by a thousand bottles of premium, backlit spirits on the brick wall behind me that the finest of London’s equally premium queers will enjoy. Backlighting optional.

Clenching my jaw, I wring the bar cloth into the sink, rinse it, and give the counter in front of me a quick wipe, because I inadvertently slopped some ale when I should have slid the glass over with a certain panache expected of a bartender in a place like this. With every last drop of said ale staying within the confines of its glassware.

Except I panicked, because nerves.

Because Saturday night. Because there are hot men everywhere, where the hotness per capita rating is off the charts—to the point there should be a public health warning and an exclusion zone for the susceptible to distraction, like me. It’s definitely the sort of hotspot in London where people go when they want to be noticed. The occasional celeb makes their way through here too, tipping off the paparazzi who wait outside. There’re regularly high numbers of influencers in Ivan’s, all vying for social media clout.

Meanwhile, the remaining froth I missed looks obscene on the walnut bar. I wring out the cloth one more time for luck.

People in the queue for drinks are thankfully looking at the mess and not at me. In my crisp white shirt and black waistcoat and pressed trousers, I at least look the part like the rest of the wait staff, if not the clientele. In fairness to me, I do tidy up quite nicely when I try. Except I’ve got no chill, especially not tonight.

Author Bio:

More animal than mineral, Hayden Stone (he/him) is a writer of fun queer fiction, especially with kissing. Hayden is the author of the When Snow Falls, Being Royal, and The London Arts Club romcom series. He currently lives in Victoria, Canada, and has previously lived in Vancouver, Canada and London, UK. You can find out his latest news on Instagram or his website: haydenstonebooks.com

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In the Frame Blitz

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This is Halloween
Sarah Branson
(A Blue Spruce Hills Novella)
Publication date: September 17th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Midwife. Halloween. A Pennsylvania hill town. A ghost with an agenda. A historian with patient eyes.

Jules Lockwood, nurse-midwife and family nurse practitioner, wants two years of loan forgiveness and a one-way ticket to Australia. Her obstacle: a town that keeps finding reasons to need her.

Eli Matthews, Blue Spruce Hills town historian, is the kind of man who came back when it mattered and stayed. He brings coffee every morning without being asked.

Agnes Bell, midwife, 1856 to 1931, has been waiting in Blue Spruce Hills since her death for the right pair of hands to pass her work to. She has found them. She is not subtle about it.

On Halloween night, when the veil between past and present is at its thinnest, everything Jules came to Blue Spruce Hills to avoid arrives at once.

This Is Halloween delivers the satisfaction of a woman choosing herself and her work on her own terms, a slow-burn romance that earns every moment, and a ghost story that will make you wish you could have known Agnes Bell.

• small town romance
• ghost mentor
• found community
• slow burn
• woman finding home
• past and present collide
• reluctant to stay
• Halloween setting
• professional woman romance
• haunted by the past (literal)
• second chance at belonging

Heat level: closed door
Series: Blue Spruce Hills, Book 1 — standalone, complete story, no cliffhanger
POV: third person limited, Jules
Tense: past
Setting: small Pennsylvania town, October through May
Comp titles: The House in the Cerulean Sea; Beach Read; A Discovery of Witches
Content notes: pregnancy and birth depicted (clinical, not graphic); brief mention of historical pregnancy loss (off-page); deployment/absent spouse (minor character)

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Juliet “Jules” Lockwood had sworn exactly six times since leaving the highway and crossing the Blue Spruce Hills town line. All six had been silent. All six had been necessary.

She pulled her Subaru into the gravel lot beside the Blue Spruce Hills Community Clinic and sat there longer than necessary, hands wrapped around the steering wheel like the car might attempt escape without her. Outside, the October sky was an intense blue with a few white clouds scudding across it. A carved pumpkin grinned from the clinic’s front step. Orange lights shaped like leaves were looped around the porch railing. Just up the street, a plastic skeleton swung from a telephone pole, rotating haphazardly in the wind.

Jules stared at the skeleton. The skeleton appeared to stare back.

She opened the car door, stepped out onto the gravel, closed her eyes, and took a deep inhale. Wood smoke and baked goods, harvest-sweet with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was, Jules thought grimly, aggressively charming. She took a step and nearly collided with a man holding a cardboard tray of coffee.

“Oh! Sorry!” he said, immediately steadying both the tray and her elbow with equal care. He was tall and laid back, with dark hair that the wind had done something unrequested to and kind brown eyes, soft and patient, the sort of eyes that suggested the person behind them listened when you talked. He wore a canvas jacket the color of cedar bark and was smiling with the easy confidence of someone who had nowhere to be and was fine with that. “You must be Jules.”

She froze. This was… unfortunate. Because those eyes were going to be a problem. She recognized his type immediately, the way one would recognize a load-bearing wall, structural and quiet, that the whole room organizes itself around without anyone quite noticing. Those eyes reflected the sort of steadiness that belonged to men who stayed. She had believed that about someone once. Believed it comprehensively and inconveniently, and at considerable personal expense. Never again.

“I’m Eli Matthews,” he said, and held out the coffee tray. “Town historian and unofficial town greeter. I brought options. Decaf, regular, and one with oat milk, because the clinic called ahead and…” he paused, reconsidering his own sentence, “okay, I asked Margaret at the post office, who asked Clara at the bakery, who said she had heard that you’d mentioned oat milk to someone at the gas station in Lehighton.”

Jules stared at the tray. “That’s a significant intelligence operation for a cup of coffee.”

He smiled, a little sheepishly. “Small town. We have patterns.” He glanced at the pumpkin on the porch. “Also, it’s October. We take hospitality seriously in October.”

She reached for the oat milk coffee. Behind her, someone cleared their throat very distinctly — the throat-clearing of someone who had been waiting a respectable amount of time and was now done waiting. Jules’s hand tightened around the cup.

She recognized that sound. She knew it the way she knew a change in barometric pressure, in her teeth, at the base of her skull, in the specific cold that moved along her spine when something was present that had no business being present.

Absolutely not. I am not doing ghosts again.

She turned slowly.

Author Bio:

Award-winning feminist speculative fiction author Sarah Branson spent close to thirty years as a midwife before turning to fiction, writing tales of action, adventure, revenge, and romance rooted in the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. Her New Earth universe imagines a future where diversity of identity is simply the texture of life, with honors including the 2022 Kindle Book Award for science fiction, the 2025 Wishing Shelf Book Award Gold Medal for A Pirates’ Pact, and a Foreword Indie Award Honorable Mention for For the Love of Glitter. Her two newest releases expand beyond New Earth: This Is Halloween, a cozy women’s fiction novella in the Blue Spruce Hills series (September 17, 2026), and Life Ends, Love Remains: A Revolutionary Ghost Story, a literary paranormal novel set in Ridgefield, Connecticut (early October 2026). Sarah lives with her husband in Connecticut.

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