ROOMMATE BY SARINA BOWEN

COMING JANUARY 12, 2021

Wanted: One roommate to share a 3-bedroom house, split the rent, and ideally not be the guy I can’t stop thinking about.

I’m a man with too many secrets, so the last thing I need is a new roommate with a sexy smile and blue eyes that see right through me. Eight years ago, Roderick left town after high school. We’re not friends. I owe him nothing. But back then, I let one of my secrets slip, and he’s the only one who noticed. 

Part of me knows I should run far, far away. But the other part wants him to come upstairs and spend the night. But if I let him in, I could lose everything.

Seeking: a room to rent in town. I’m tidy, have no pets, and I will feed you homemade bread. 

I should probably add: Gay AF, and has no filter. It’s no wonder my new landlord is so wary of me. 

A smarter man would ignore those hot glances from Kieran Shipley. The broody lumberjack wants more from me than another fresh-baked pretzel. But if I push my luck, I’ll end up back on the street.

Too bad I’ve never been smart with my heart… 

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Ava Callahan.

Love of my life.

Wrecker of my soul.

I would have sworn on anything that what we shared was real.

But she broke my trust. And then my heart. I don’t think I can piece it back together without her, but I’m sure gonna try.

I’m better off on my own, anyways, right? Who needs girls when you have football?

If only I believed that. Look, when you need someone in your life, you don’t want to let her go. And I can’t let go of Ava. I love her. She loves me. Nothing can convince me otherwise. It’s as simple as that. I know no matter what, this girl belongs to me. We may have issues, but we’re meant to be. So I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.

Even if I have to fight dirty.

 

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Excerpt

Can you die from a broken heart? Not asking for a friend.

The street is empty. Eli is long gone. I clutch my phone in my hand so tight, my fingers cramp up. He won’t respond to my texts or my calls. He’s ghosting me.

Pain radiates from my chest, a constant, throbbing reminder that Eli just destroyed me with a few choice words. He doesn’t believe me. Worse, he doesn’t trust me. I never told my brother about his parents. I don’t know who did. Eli may have hinted at things and flat out told me his mother drank too much, but he never talked about his dad cheating. And why would I tell Jake any of that?

There’s no way I ever would.

So who did?

I make my way to the backyard to find my entire family is gone. Glancing toward the kitchen windows, I see they’re inside. Waiting for me. My parents and Jake, who’s sitting on a barstool at the counter with a glower on his freshly abused face. It serves him right that Eli got a few punches in. I don’t even feel bad that it happened, though I suppose I should.

Mom catches my gaze and raises her brows, the look on her face plainly telling me, get in here.

If I could turn around and run away, I would. I’d run and run and run until I was out of breath and so, so far, no one could find me again.

But I don’t move. I definitely don’t go inside. Not yet. Dad says something to Mom, and I can tell they’re having a minor argument. About me? I wonder if she told Dad about our little secret. How she knew about Eli and I dating.

My gaze sweeps over the scene of the crime, AKA the spot where Jake and Eli fought. The moonlight catches on something on the ground, making it glint and I kneel down, reaching toward the shiny piece. My fingertips touch cool metal and I grasp it between my fingers.

A gold #1 pendant. Eli’s. I feel around for the chain, almost desperately, on my hands and knees, but I don’t see it. I wonder if he knows he lost it. I’m sure he’ll be upset. He loves this necklace and the fact that his father gave it to him.

But would he want to know I have it?

Maybe.

Maybe that’ll be my one way to reach out to him. I have something he wants.

Unfortunately, from the way everything just went down, it’s not me.

“Ava!” I lift my head to find my mother standing in the open doorway of the kitchen, her expression somber. “Come inside. Now.”

Rising to my feet, I clutch the pendant in my palm and march toward my punishment. I hang my head as I enter the kitchen, not wanting to look at any of them. Especially Jake. His anger radiates off of him, all of it aimed straight at me. Mom closes the door but, otherwise, says nothing. Neither does Jake. Or Dad.

It’s a very uncomfortable silence full of thick tension that seems to last ten minutes, but is probably more like thirty seconds before my dad can’t take it any longer.

“Ava.” His tone is firm, yet gentle. He’s mad, but he doesn’t want to show it. “Tell me what Eli Bennett was doing at our house at this time of night.”

Jake snorts. “What do you think—”

“Enough,” Dad says, silencing my big brother.

This gives me immense satisfaction. Lifting my head, I meet my father’s gaze head on. “We’re together. Well…we were.”

 

Meet Monica

Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance. She’s also known as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.

A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, two kids, one dog, and four cats. When she’s not writing, she’s an assistant coach for her daughter’s high school cheer team, which is a two season sport. Meaning, she’s at practice with a bunch of teenage girls all the time. Or she’s at a football game. Or a basketball game. Maybe someday, she’ll even write about this experience.

Connect with Monica

Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

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The fourth in Monica Murphy’s Callahans series, Meant to Be, is the conclusion of Ava and Eli’s story. After reading Addicted to Him, I needed to know how Ava and Eli would get back together. Meant to Be has all the feels you could want in an angsty, teen romance. I loved that we see all the Callahans in this latest installment and can only hope we’ll see them all again before too long

Today we have the release day blitz of Tawna Fenske’s Just A Little Bet! Check out this gorgeous new romance and be sure to get your copy today!

Title: Just A Little Bet

Author: Tawna Fenske

Genre: Contemporary Romance

About Just A Little Bet:

After a night of too many drinks, smokejumper Tony Warren and his best friend, photographer Kayla Gladney, come to the realization that they’re both bad at love. They even tried dating each other, but that crashed and burned, too. Now he’s got the hangover from hell and the certain conclusion he’s just a shit boyfriend. But Kayla thinks he’s a straight-up commitment-phobe.

So they make a bet—they’re going to hunt down his exes and decide once and for all why he’s so unlucky in love. Terrible boyfriend or commitment-phobe. Why does either answer feel like he’s still losing?

But between roadside burgers and late night detours, they discover some fires never burn out—like the one slowly smoldering between them. And suddenly losing feels a whole lot like winning again.

Get Your Copy:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2HcjgKd

The Where There’s Smoke series is STANDALONE:

* The Two-Date Rule

* The Best Kept Secret

Exclusive Excerpt:

He glanced over and winked. “Want to play a road-trip game?”

“Like twenty questions?”

“Or the alphabet game,” he said. “The one where you look at road signs to find letters of the alphabet in order?”

Kayla scanned the long stretch of highway dotted with sagebrush and junipers. Not a lot of signs in sight. “How about kiss, marry, kill?”

“What’s that?”

She wiggled her toes on the dash, enjoying the cool flutter of air conditioning. “We take turns naming three random celebrities,” she said. “Or they could be musicians or cartoon characters or whatever. You have to decide which one you’d kiss, which one you’d marry, and which one you’d kill.”

He glanced over and raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like another middle school game. Proceed.”

“Um, let me think.” She rubbed her palms down her denim-clad thighs and tried to come up with something. “Okay. Marge Simpson, Judy Jetson, and Princess Fiona from Shrek.”

“Those are my choices?”

She grinned. “Those are your choices.”

Frowning at the highway, Tony considered it. “I’m not keen on killing anyone, but Judy Jetson’s gotta be pushing ninety, since that show came out in the early sixties. So I guess I’ll go with her.”

“To kill?”

His brow furrowed. “Do we really have to do that part?”

“Yep, it’s the game.”

“Okay, then yes.” He tapped the brakes as a rabbit darted out in the road, then changed its mind and scurried back. Tony swerved to avoid hitting it, expertly keeping the Jeep on the road.

“Princess Fiona seems really happy with Shrek, so I’m not going to fuck that up for them,” he continued. “Just a peck on the cheek is okay, right?”

Kayla eyed him, surprised by how seriously he seemed to be taking this. “Does this mean you’re marrying Marge Simpson?”

He shrugged and tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. “Homer’s kind of a dick, and she always seemed like a cool lady. Might as well get her out of that.”

“Wow.” Kayla stared at him. “So you’re seeing marriage as—what? A chance to rescue someone?”

Tony frowned. “That’s not what I said.”

“No, but you implied it.” She laughed and dropped her feet to the floor. “No wonder we didn’t work out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t need anyone rescuing me,” she said. “If some sort of hero complex is the driving force behind—”

“I do not have a hero complex.” His words came out so forceful, even Tony seemed surprised. “I just don’t like seeing anyone in a lousy marriage. There’s too goddamn many of those in the world.”