We–and many others–love this warm-hearted contemp. 

I loved Abby Jimenez’ Yours Truly and was excited to read her latest, Just for the Summer. This story is a lovely, sharp summer romance and I’m happy to recommend it!

Justin and Emma each have a big problem: Both are cursed. Every time either of them goes on a first date with someone, it not only doesn’t work out but the next person that person dates turns out to be their soulmate. Not only are both Justin and Emma very very single, people want to date them so that they may next, once they’ve dumped Justin or Emma, find their true love. Justin posts about his dilemma on Reddit and Emma sends him a DM that says the same damn thing is happening to her. They decide to date each other to see if it will break the curse. Their romance is just wonderful and Jimenez tells her story with care and talent.

It’s on sale for 3.99 here.

I don’t usually think of Jenkins as writing light-hearted romance but this one fits that bill. 

Something Like Love is a lighthearted and humorous look at the residents and town of Henry Adams, Kansas in the late 1880s. Beverly Jenkins provides us with two engaging leads – Olivia Sterling, a proper, self-employed woman, and Neil July, a train robber. Olivia and Neil find immense enjoyment in each other’s company and, of course, fight their attraction for one another as well as outside forces destined to keep them apart.

Olivia Sterling is a successful modiste from Chicago who flees her home to escape an arranged marriage. On her way to her new home in Kansas, the train is robbed by two very attractive men – one who decides against taking all of Olivia’s valuables in exchange for a future kiss. As Olivia settles in Kansas, she reestablishes her modiste business, lives comfortably for a single working woman in a frontier town, and is thoroughly satisfied with her quality of life. Never did she think she would see train robber Neil July again, but she doesn’t forget him.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.

This one was first published in 1998. We thought it was quite good. 

Forever After is set in a small town in Oregon where sheriff Heath Masters is trying to cope with reduced staff, an epidemic of teenage drinking, and a deputy (the mayor’s son) who is trying his best to undercut Heath in every way.

Heath lives out in the country and recently had some new neighbors move in, Meredith Kenyon and her daughter Sammy. Meredith is shy and not inclined to respond to Heath’s neighborly overtures, while Sammy is downright scared of men. It’s Heath’s retired police dog, Goliath, a Rottweiler, who breaks the ice. Goliath has always had a special affinity for children and he and Sammy soon become almost inseparable. It is very clear that Meredith is either hiding something, or running from someone, but Heath cannot figure out what her secret is.

At first, Meredith is scared of Heath, then as she gradually gets to know him, she becomes fond of him, while he begins to fall in love with her. But Meredith’s past finally catches up with her, and Heath is forced to chose between his duty to the law and his love for Meredith.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.

This is a DIK. 

We meet Gavin Montgomery in Velvet Promise in which he marries, sight unseen, the outrageously gorgeous, red-headed, golden-eyed Judith Revedoune. Gavin sees the marriage as a way to re-establish his tarnished family name. Judith is the daughter of an abusive and powerful earl who sees this marriage as his way to continue the family line. All his sons are dead, and though he’s left with this puny and worthless daughter, the least she can do is give him grandsons. Judith’s mother, on the other hand, has trained her to become a prioress to protect her from the same sort of abusive marriage she herself suffered. But when the earl threatens his wife with serious, bodily harm if Judith doesn’t go through with the marriage, she capitulates.

Judith and Gavin’s initial meeting on their wedding day starts as a fairy tale but soon turns disastrous when Gavin’s conniving, deceitful former lover, Alice, turns up hoping to keep Gavin chained to her. Throughout the book, Gavin and Judith have to overcome obstacles due to their having married as total strangers. Judith must come to the realization that not all men are abusive, controlling beasts (although Gavin does possess quite a temper) and Gavin must see the deceptive Alice for what she really is and come to love and trust his bride.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.

There are more!