Lately, I’ve been on the hunt for romances that lean into emotional depth, slow-burn chemistry, and characters you want to curl up with for an entire weekend. These are the titles currently sitting on my metaphorical bookshelf—and I think you’ll love them too.

Please note: I'm marking the books that are also in KU for those with subscriptions. 😊

1. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

Quick Summary: A grumpy, stoic football pro and his assistant navigate years of tension, misunderstandings, and loyalty before finally acknowledging the slow-burn connection that’s been building between them — page by lovely page.

Quick Summary: When a woman bearing a tragic past meets a quiet, guarded man who barely speaks, their connection unfolds slowly through shared silence, gentle care, and deep vulnerability.

 Title: Daddy's Little Christmas          

 Author: Denver Shaw

 Title: Laced with Secrets                                                                            

Series: A Cobblers' Corner Book 4

Author: CB Wren

My secret weighs heavier with each passing day, especially when I discover the victim was hiding the same secret when they died. Someone killed to bury the truth, and I’m determined to give them the justice they deserve.

But investigating a decades-old murder while hiding my condition from everyone—including my alpha—proves nearly impossible. Especially when our much anticipated centennial celebration becomes the perfect stage for a killer hellbent on keeping their secret buried.

Perfect for readers who love:

• Historical mysteries with personal stakes
• Protective, morally gray alphas with possessive streaks a mile wide
• Community celebrations that turn deadly
• 1970s-themed dance parties
• Steamy reconciliations in ruined nests
• Baby bumps

Laced With Secrets is Book 4 of my Cobblers’ Corner Cozy Mystery series. Some secrets are worth killing for—but love is worth dying to protect.

Single POV (omega) ~67K words

Note: This is the final installment of the series. This book promises the conclusion of the overarching mystery that has been building in every book, a satisfying HEA, and mpreg.

Review:

Leo Sterling-Hart has lived in the historical district where his family's cobbler shop is for his entire life. He loves his neighorhood and will do anything he can to protect it from being taken over by corporations and big money. But he's just one man and he's discovered that the alpha he is falling for hasn't been entirely honest with him. To top it off, he's pregnant and feels that he cannot trust his alpha, so he's keeping him at arm's length.

Dominic Steele is an alpha and admitedly ruthless in his pursuits, but he's never met anyone like Leo, and the little omega has definitely gotten under his skin. Enough so, the forced separation that Leo has decided on is driving him insane. How can he protect his omega if he's in the other room and kind of hiding from him? 

When a body is found buried wearing shoes with siver buckles designed by Leo's grandfather, the mystery of what happened to the young archictect Thomas Wong has been solved. However, while they might know why no one ever heard from Thomas again, they don't know who murdered him. Leo, Dominic and their friends are up to their eyeballs trying to discover who the killer is. Leo thinks Dominic is already too overprotective, and he's still mad at him for not being completely honest with him about how and why they  met, so he's keeping the pregnancy a secret. Will they discover who the killer is in time to prevent any more murders, or will one of them pay the ultimate price?

Whew! I had the good fortune to disover CB Wren on Amazon a few months ago. I gobbled up the other stories in this series including the prequel (yummy, and so good!) and am delighted to have the opportunity to review the final book in this series. The world building in this series is phenomenal, the character delvelopment awesome, the romance steamy, and well I just loved every single book in this series, including this one! While each book ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, except for this one of course, and honestly I don't normally read books with cliffhangers, each book does have some kind of conclusion too, at the end. This final book was so very satisfying with a happy ending, and lots of action which I think is what can make or break a really good book. Plus, it hints at Penny's story, which I can't wait to read! If you enjoy cozy mystery's, LGBTQIA+, mpreg and non-shifter omegaverse stories,as well as, well developed worlds and characters then you don't want to miss this series! I suggest you start with the prequel The Cobbler and his Elves, so you understand the background for the neighborhood and series. 

Title: Off-Limits Daddy

Series: Daddies of Briar Creek

Author: Denver Shaw

There's a new topic trending online, and honestly? It's getting ridiculous.

Readers are accusing authors of using AI to write their books simply because—drumroll...their stories contain—wait for it...em-dashes.

Yes. That little punctuation mark that authors have been using since before electricity is currently being treated as if it is an AI watermark. 

"I saw a bunch of em-dashes in this book! It must've been written by AI!"...said someone who has clearly never read a Jane Austin novel. <sigh>

Let's make something abundantly clear:

AI did not invent the em-dash, period.

Writers did, hundreds of years ago, in fact.

Jane Austin loved em-dashes and used them often.

Emily Brontë is another author who used a prodigious amount of em-dashes, in case you didn't know.

Virginia Woolf? She practically wrote entire paragraphs using em-dashes!

The em-dash is not a sign the author used artificial intelligence to write their book.

Em-dashes are a sign of dramatic flair. They're meant to be a beat, a pause, and or an emotional punch. You can consider them the punctuation equivalent of a gasp.

So why are readers suddenly treating em-dashes like a red flag for AI writing?

It's because there is a misunderstanding spreading online that goes something like this:

• "AI uses em-dashes."
• "This book has em-dashes."
• "THEREFORE—THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN BY AI."

But what if you happen to be in the "AI is cheating" crowd?

Gatekeeping creativity hurts authors.

In conclusion, here's what I think:

 Title: Kellan and Emmett: A Small Town MM Romance

Series: Gomillion High Reunion

Author: Denver Shaw