The Rules of Falling For You by Mollie Rushmeyer

 

She thought she knew the rules of love. Turns out, love makes its own.

The perfect match can't be far--certainly not at a Regency-themed singles' retreat--or so podcaster Zoe Dufour believes. After years of creating content for her relationship podcast inspired by Regency etiquette and era-appropriate rules for romance, she knows her listeners have anticipated this retreat. But she also attends with expectations of her own: finding the ideal modern-day gentleman who can meet every one of the nonnegotiables on her checklist.

Harrison Lundquist, Zoe's podcast producer and best friend's brother, reluctantly agrees to tag along on the retreat to capture footage while seeking a career-advancing promotion. He views the retreat as ridiculous. And Zoe's methods for finding her real-life Mr. Darcy? Downright absurd! But as he films her whirlwind dates, his growing feelings for her are sidelined by suitors vying for her attention. When Zoe realizes her checklist for the man of her dreams might be holding her back, she must decide if she's willing to rewrite her rules and take a chance on the person who has been there all along.

Pick up your copy here...

The Rules of Falling for You: A Regency-Infused Contemporary Rom-Com with the Brother's Best Friend Trope - Kindle edition by Rushmeyer, Mollie. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Mollie Rushmeyer writes whimsical romance with heart and humor. She has a deep and abiding love for all things British, bookish, and filled with history and mystery. A modern girl herself—she wouldn’t want to go a day without modern plumbing and central air!—she’s always felt a special connection to the past and anything with a happily ever after. Her debut novel, The Bookshop of Secrets, was a finalist for a 2023 Carol Award. A born and bred Midwestern gal, Mollie makes her home in central Minnesota with her husband and two spunky, beautiful daughters.

Her Jane Austen-inspired contemporary rom-com, The Rules of Falling for You with Bethany House Publishers, releases September 2nd, 2025. Pre-order now to reserve your copy!

Don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for vintage recipe reboots, tea and book pairings, behind-the-scenes info, exclusive content and giveaways, and a FREE short story rom-com, Love or Dare.

She’d love to connect through social media! Follow her on Instagram and

Facebook: @authormollierushmeyer

This was a fun read and great trope! I really liked the characters. I recommend this one. I love finding new authors.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry

 

You may not know the stranger in room six. But they know everything about you.

It's been fifteen years since Belinda was wrongly convicted of her husband's murder. Now, she's ready for her life to begin again, and she's set on that happening at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart.

The owner, Mabel, has spent her life here. First as an evacuee during the Blitz and now as the care home's oldest resident, Mabel has held the secrets of this house for as long as she can remember. Secrets that could kill if in the wrong hands.

But history won't stay hidden forever and someone is onto them both. Watching and listening from room number six, they'll stop at nothing to find out the truth.

With a past this dark, is anyone as innocent as they seem?

Pick up your copy here..

Amazon.com: The Stranger in Room Six: 9780385702621: Corry, Jane: Books

Jane Corry is a prize-winning author and journalist (Daily Telegraph and women's magazines) who worked for three years as the writer in residence of a high security male prison. This experience helped inspire her Sunday Times Penguin bestsellers 'My Husband's Wife', 'Blood Sisters', 'The Dead Ex', 'I Looked Away', 'I Made A Mistake', 'To Tell The Truth', 'The Lies We Tell', 'We All Have Our Secrets' , 'Coming To Find You', 'I Died On A Tuesday' and 'The Stranger In Room Six' (out in June this year). She has now sold over 1.5 million copies of her books world-wide.

Jane worked as an RLF Fellow at Exeter University and is a former creative writing tutor at Oxford University. She also writes short stories; features for The Daily Telegraph and speaks at literary festivals all over the world. Many of her ideas strike during morning dog-jogs along the beach followed by a dip in the sea - no matter how cold it is!

Jane is also published by Doubleday in the USA and Canada.

If you like dual timelines and a great thriller in one book you will really enjoy this book. I really enjoyed both of these women's stories. 

4 stars and I recommend this book.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey

Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan is living the dream. He’s made it to the NHL, his best friend/teammate and fellow “orgasm donor” is his roomie—and the women of Boston love them both. Life is sweet. That is, until he meets Skylar Paige, division 1 softball pitcher, girl least likely to take anyone’s bull…and the one member of the opposite sex immune to his charms. Robbie might be dazzled by the badass pitcher, but Skylar pegs him as a filthy player and wants nothing to do with him.

When he discovers she’s carrying a serious torch for her brother’s best friend, Robbie knows he should just go back to clubbing and whipped cream bikini parties, but he can’t seem to leave Skylar to flounder on her romantic quest to land another man. Nor can he miss out on the opportunity to spend time with her and hopefully redeem himself. Before Robbie knows it, he’s agreed to be Skylar’s fake boyfriend/love coach at an upcoming family wilderness competition where her crush will be in attendance. What could go wrong?

Through a series of contests that require them to trust each other, Robbie and Skylar grow closer and closer until their fake relationship starts to feel like the realest thing they’ve ever known and the sizzling lessons in sensuality burn out of control.

But it’s all just pretend…right?

Pick up your copy here....

 Amazon.com: Pitcher Perfect: A Spicy Fake-Dating Sports Romance of a Playboy Hockey Rookie and the Disciplined Softball Pitcher Completely Immune to His Charms (Big Shots, 4): 9780063380837: Bailey, Tessa: Books

New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books.

This is a quick, fun read. Bailey never disappoints she is on top of her game. No curve balls here.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval.

Pick up your copy here...

Hunter's Heart Ridge: A Mystery (Bethany, Vermont Mysteries Book 2) - Kindle edition by Taylor, Sarah Stewart. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D'arcy series. The first Maggie D'arcy mystery, The Mountains Wild, was on numerous Best of the Year lists and was a Library Journal Pick of the Month. The fourth Maggie D'arcy mystery, A Stolen Child, was a Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week.

Sarah grew up on Long Island, and was educated at Middlebury College in Vermont and Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied Irish Literature. She has worked as a journalist and writing teacher and now lives with her family on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and grow blueberries. Sarah spends as much time in Ireland as she can.

Once Upon a Christmas Carol by Melody Carlson

 What will happen when a tropical escape from holiday blues turns into a snowy wonderland filled with joy and cheer?

Carol Langstrom hates Christmas. Growing up in a dysfunctional home, with a birthday on December 25 and too many dashed childhood expectations, she would rather avoid the holiday season. And working in the design industry where she manages seasonal decor for wealthy, entitled clients certainly hasn't helped!   

So, this year her goal is to flee to the Bahamas--by herself--bah humbug! But bad weather and God's radically different plan redirect her flight to blustery Michigan, where she gets stuck on her aunt's farm and discovers a different kind of Christmas--one wrapped in love, family, and holiday spirit.

Melody Carlson's Christmas novella delivers all the charm of a holiday Hallmark movie, is rooted in Christian faith, woven with sweet romance, and features A Christmas Carol themes.

Pick up your copy here...

Once Upon a Christmas Carol: (A Sweet Christian Fiction Holiday Story with Themes of A Christmas Carol set in Michigan): Melody Carlson: 9780800744731: Amazon.com: Books

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

Forgiveness, Family, and a little romance. This was the perfect Christmas getaway. I look forward to Carlsons Christmas novellas every year and this one melted my heart. Victor and Carol were the perfect couple. A must read this holiday season.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

She Didn't Stand A Chance by Stacie Grey

  The desert heat can be deadly. But nothing kills like a cold heart.

Gertie hasn't seen her siblings since she was a toddler. Now, she's back at the family home she barely remembers, summoned there to witness the reading of her father's will. Shockingly, Gertie stands to inherit a substantial portion of the family business and her father's prized Palm Springs home. And no one is more surprised―and angry―about Gertie's inclusion in the will than her sisters and brothers.

Trapped in a remote house that doesn't feel like home with siblings that don't feel like family, Gertie is isolated in more ways than one. And when she discovers that her father may have been murdered, and a member of the household staff dies not long before she has a near-deadly accident of her own, she realizes she'll be lucky to get out of this unexpected family reunion alive.

A suspenseful read that feels just as suffocating as the dry California air in which it is set, She Didn't Stand a Chance takes readers on a wild journey of jealousy, lies, and family secrets with deadly consequences.

Pick up your copy here...

She Didn't Stand a Chance: A Novel: Grey, Stacie: 9781728292953: Amazon.com: Books

Stacie Grey is an author and fan of mysteries who lives in Alameda, California, with her husband and dog. In what passes for normal life, she works in biotech research. She mostly posts to Instagram and Threads, and occasionally writes a newsletter.

Mess by Michael Chessler

 Marie Kondo meets The Real Housewives in this charming and perceptive story of a professional organizer to Hollywood’s elite who learns to find love and acceptance amid the messiness of life.

To the world, Jane Brown, a Los-Angeles based professional organizer, is a model of composure and reticence. But inside, she’s fiercely judgmental and critical of herself and others. A lover of order and tidiness, she struggles to accept the world’s exasperating messiness of both her own clients—a superficial sphere of influencers and rich creatives—and her live-in boyfriend, who is becoming as aggravating as he is comforting.

When she arrives at the home of a new client, a has-been Hollywood actress—a woman opposite to her in every way—Jane finds herself unexpectedly moved. Realizing how desperately she wants to lower her defenses and open her heart, Jane decides to declutter the mess of her own mindset. Organizing her own feelings turns out to be the most daunting job she’s ever tackled, but one that promises big rewards if she succeeds, including freedom—and even love.

Set against the dazzlingly rich, beautiful, and shallow world of Hollywood money and mansions, Mess is an honest, heartfelt, and often hilarious response to the disorder of our lives today.

Pick up your copy here...

Mess: A Sharp and Witty Tale of a Perfectionist Organizer Battling the Chaos of Hollywood and Her Own Heart: Chessler, Michael: 9780063413894: Amazon.com: Books

No Author Photo

Michael Chessler has been a writer, producer, director, and show-runner of numerous television shows. He has developed pilots for all the major networks, some of which made it to air. He is a native of Los Angeles, where he still lives.