#Contemporary Sweet Romance

[thepersonalwords]

That's because those pages got torn to shreds when you left, now you both are in different chapters. He wants you - like always, and you want the hot guy down the street. Typical Frankie and Brody style. You guys dance one wild tango, if you ask me.

A.M. Willard, Heated Sweets

[eruden-writes]

Feed the Fever - Part 2 (Cyd x Mara)

Summary: Mara Sweet hated her satyr colleague, Cyd Stylcock. He was obnoxious, flirtatious, always late with the paperwork, and - worse - everyone seemed to love him. His presence just further aggravated Mara after her messy break-up. And to make matters worse, she was coming down with a fever.

Something in Mara snaps when Cyd, bringing his paperwork in at the last possible second, waltzes into her office. Dizzy from fever, she does something she never thought she'd do in a million years: grope her colleague.

x x x

Previous | Masterlist (coming soon)

x x x

If you like my work, consider joining my Patreon! You get chapter updates before everyone else!

:3c

x x x

Silence settled heavily in the examination room. Mara stared, wide-eyed, at Dr. Agnosta, a gnoll individual. The doctor sat stiffly on a rolling stool, face sober and not betraying a hint of amusement. The barren nature of the exam room gave plenty of space for the quiet to settle uncomfortably around the two of them. Though Dr. Agnosta seemed undaunted by it, merely holding Mara’s gaze.

A sense of queasiness was overcoming Mara’s fever. “Can you repeat that?”

“You are cubare,” Dr. Agnosta repeated, noisily tapping their claws on the tablet in their hands they scrolled through the notes. One of their tattered ears twitched. They squinted at something, their eyes flickering. A second later, Mara realized they had been reviewing the lab work. “You’re about one-eighth cubare.”

That meant one of her great-grandparents was from the Infernal realm? Or, well, one of her grandparents liaised with someone of the Infernal realm, at least. Mara racked her brain, trying to remember anything she could of the relations, but nothing came to mind.

Her shoulders slumped, still seated on the examination table and dressed in the patient gown. Dr. Agnosta had ordered a blood test as soon as Mara mentioned Cyd’s damned theory. She would have never brought it up had she known there was an inkling of possibility to it. There had to be another reason, right?

“So this fever is…” Mara hated how breathless she sounded. It was like her every action tinged with flirtation. She didn’t even try to sound like that!

“Colloquially known as Cubi Fever. It does not affect all cubare severely, since cubare live with their enhanced sexual capabilities daily.” Dr. Agnosta set aside the tablet, seated on a stool by a minimalistic desk. If they noticed Mara’s suggestive breathlessness, they made no indication. The doctor crossed their ankle over their knee, leaning back a little as they took on a learned air while explaining, “In your case, it is possible your cubare genes took longer to activate and losing your source of sexual relief, well… You are more prone to ill-thought reactions than a cubare who has lived with this all their life.”

That didn’t sound hopeful. Mara sighed, crossing her arms and looking down at her still socked feet. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Find a source of sexual relief.” They shrugged and smiled sympathetically when Mara shot them an aggravated look.

“Anything else?” She tried not to bite the words out. It was difficult since her thoughts lingered back to Cyd, who she last saw still seated in the waiting area. There was no way he was still there. Besides, she wasn’t desperate enough to boink someone that hated her.

The doctor hummed, considering the options. After a moment, they admitted with a hesitant voice, “I can provide a suppressant. However, due to the low-content of your cubare blood, it may not help. It might even—”

“I don’t care what the side effects are. Give me the suppressant.”

Dr. Agnosta stared at Mara for a long moment, their eyebrows furrowed and snout wrinkling. They obviously had concerns about this particular treatment path. Mara just met the doctor’s eyes head-on, trying to convey she was absolutely certain this was the direction she wanted.

Eventually, Dr. Agnosta sighed and shook their head and stood from the stool. “Alright then. I’ll write you a prescription. You may get dressed now. The prescription will be ready up front when you check out.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Relief fluttered in Mara as she watched the gnoll doctor leave, a smile on her lips. Once the door shut behind them, Mara went about re-dressing in her work clothes. At the back of her mind, she already made plans to swing by the grocery store - with the pharmacy she used - and pick up an easy dinner to treat herself.

x x x

Once dressed and given her discharge papers, Mara made her way back out to the waiting area to check out. A cursory glance around the waiting room confirmed Cyd had left. Good. She didn’t need his smug face poking around her business.

The relief was short-lived.

As soon as Mara exited the urgent care clinic, Cyd hopped up from a stone bench. “Hey! So, what’s the prognosis?”

“Why are you still even here?” Surprise had Mara rooted to the spot, but a scowl quickly overcame her shock.

“Moral support?” He carelessly shrugged, grinning at her in a way that made Mara’s blood boil. Just not in a way she usually anticipated.

Turning on her heel, she snorted and started marching down the street. “Like hell I’m telling you.”

Cyd’s footfalls followed after as he jogged to catch up with Mara. Coming up alongside her, he bent low, his grin growing. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Believe what you want.” She didn’t even glance at him. Only kept her eyes locked forward, forcing her feet to continue on the path she had already decided on. He had to have something better to do, didn’t he? Still without looking at him, she pointedly hissed, “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Other than here?”

Making a show of scratching his goatee, Cyd hummed before shaking his head definitively. “Nah, not til seven.”

Mara turned sharply toward Cyd, her purse lifting up and smacking him from the centrifugal force. “Stop following me.”

Raising his hands, he took a step back, offering an awkward smile and nod to a passing group of - rightfully concerned - people. “Hey, hey, hey, I’m not following you. I just happen to be going where you’re going.”

“Uh huh, what are you getting, Cyd?” She planted her hand on her cocked hip, expression scathingly skeptical. Upon her response and familiar usage of a name, the group continued walking. She could’ve bit her tongue for not using concerned strangers to her benefit.

With the eyeballers gone, Cyd relaxed a little. His eyes flicked back to her as he rubbed his neck in an obviously overacting sort of way. “Ah, well, I forgot the name of the store, but I’ll remember when we get there.”

“You’re insufferable,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. It could be a completely plausible excuse. She knew it wasn’t a coincidence, but it could be. Cyd wasn’t doing anything particularly wrong. The two were co-workers, he walked with her to the clinic, and now he was walking with her to the store, because he ‘happened to be going that way.’ If she called the authorities, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Besides, she didn’t actually want him to get in legal troubles for whatever he was pulling. He could very well be concerned about the welfare of others. Or maybe Cyd just wanted to try to get in her pants, seeing as her hormones were in overdrive. That thought made the mingling heat of aggravation and horniness flare. Thankfully, the annoyance was much too powerful for her libido.

“Hey, I just want to make sure you’re not-” Before Cyd could finish the accusation of her jumping any random schmo on the street, Mara’s hand shot out to grab him by the shirt. A strangle yelp caught in his throat, but he bent to the sudden tug.

“Fine, you were right. The doctor says I’m one-eighth cubare. Happy?” Mara’s voice pitched low, nearly hissing as she glanced around. She didn’t want others on the street to hear about her very personal affairs. Just the thought made her cheeks flush and discomfort crawl over her skin. “It wasn’t a problem when I had a boyfriend and a steady intimate life, but without him…”

“Cubi fever,” Cyd finished, mirroring Mara’s tone. Her eyes flickered to the satyr man’s face, finding the slight curl of smugness in his smile. But there was something else there. A softness - maybe sympathy - in his eyes.

Her attention dropped from Cyd’s face to her fist clenching his shirt. A thick floof of fur spilled out from the strained fabric and it took all of Mara’s attention to not touch it with her free hand. No matter how soft it looked.

Mara pulled away from him, clenching both her hands so tight her nails dug into her palms. Anything to keep that inquisitive itch from doing something she’d regret. Her heels clacked angrily across the sidewalk as she once again marched away from Cyd. “Whatever. I’m going to the pharmacy now for my prescription.”

Behind her, Cyd’s footfalls followed after. She barely refrained from groaning as mischief colored his next words. “What a coinky-dink, I need to go to the pharmacy too.”

“How convenient,” Mara drawled, sarcasm laden on her tongue. She continued forward, clutching her purse and refusing to look back at the satyr.

��Isn’t it just,” Cyd chuckled, the deep resonant sound like warm molasses oozing down her spine.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Cyd still grinning, though following a little behind her. His thumbs were hooked into his pockets and his posture oozed confident ease. There was a brief moment when she was tempted to do something to wipe that annoying smile off his face, to add a thread of awkward tension in his body language. Maybe drag him into a parking garage or alleyway, somewhere a little more private to-

No, no, no. Mara bit her tongue, trying to distract herself from the lurid images dancing around her brain.

Gods, she needed to get to that pharmacy. But she wasn’t about to run in heels nor have Cyd chase after her. The very thought made a hot melty ball of something churn in her center.

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction

Synopsis: From the author of Dog Days Forever, a heartfelt, holiday contemporary romance, in which a young woman returns to her small hometown and ends up fostering a pregnant dog with—of all people—the man she used to love. Lucy Buchanan and Theo Taylor have never gotten along…like ever. Not when they were children, not when they were teenagers, and definitely not as adults…though that last…

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Welcome, Caller

a cute small town m/m romance

a 20-something trans man whose routine and comfortable life with his friends starts getting disrupted when a guy he had a vague rivalry with in uni keeps running into him

he finds some stability by regularly calling in to a late-night radio show, which becomes a strangely comforting relationship, despite the anonymity

explores mental health (adhd, autism) & friendship

[books-in-a-storm]

Snowflake Book Review’s

Title: Rage MC #8 The Sweetness of Rage

Author: Elizabeth N. Harris

Pages: 340

Snowflake Rating:❄❄❄❄(4/5)

Synopsis:

There comes a time when just existing doesn’t work anymore. When you understand just how bad your family is, but when you walk into a situation manipulated by them, words fail you. She understands that too well. Her family took everything that mattered, all in the name of money. Leaving her home country, she flees to the country that over the years had become her real home.

She doesn’t speak, she’s shy, timid, but he senses she’s hiding something. And he loves nothing more than a challenge. But this girl isn’t going to give her trust to just anyone, and he recognises that. A brother steps out of his comfort zone to claim the woman he wants. Because she’s it, the dream, in one cute sexy package.

Not understanding how a brother works, she’s bewildered and ready to run. Except those gorgeous eyes beg her to trust him. Trust is hard to come by in the world she occupied, but when the world comes crashing down, he’s the one standing beside her.

[lakecountylibrary]

Manga Spotlight: Fluffy Reads

If you are looking for a fun and easy read, try out these manga series!

They are all lighthearted, funny, and upbeat...just what you need to cheer you up, make you laugh out loud, and put a smile on your face!

Descriptions provided by the publishers

Those Not So Sweet Boys by Yoko Nogiri

When a hard-working Japanese high school girl falls for a bad boy, she discovers that he and his friends lead lives that are nothing like what she imagined.

Play It Cool, Guys by Kokone Nata

A bunch of dorky guys in school and life try to look cool every day.

My Love Mix-Up! Art by Aruko ; story by Wataru Hinekure

Aoki has a crush on Hashimoto, the girl in the seat next to him in class. But he despairs when he borrows her eraser and sees she's written the name of another boy - Ida - on it. To make matters more confusing, Ida sees Aoki holding that very eraser and thinks Aoki has a crush on him!

Find them in our collection in print or on Libby!

See more of Kate's recs

[ballsballsbowls]

I know this is because I have no brain chemicals but

So there’s now “sweet and wholesome” romances, which promise no sex (and I assume that there’s no actual violence and probably no gambling either), which is a venn diagram which “christian romance,” so there are now two entire categories of romance that will eliminate all sex scenes and violence and gambling and probably something else I have forgotten about.

But there isn’t a SINGLE category of genre romance that will eliminate sweet OR Christian romance. They still creep in on the regular in search algorithms of category romance.

That’s not even getting my issue with the romances with no sex being called “sweet and wholesome.” 

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: The House on Sunshine Corner

Synopsis: This captivating enemies-to-lovers romance about a daycare teacher who clashes with a brooding dad is perfect second-chance love story for fans of Debbie Mason. Abby Engel has a great life. She’s the owner of Sunshine Corner, the daycare she runs with her girlfriends; she has the most adoring grandmother (aka the Baby Whisperer); and she lives in a perfect hidden gem of a town. All…

[darlenedeluca]

Drum roll please . . . it's Release Day!!

Sunsets, wide open spaces, cowboys, and unexpected romance — Sunset Ledge has all the feels! I’m so excited to share my new novel, a “silver fox” or later-in-life contemporary romance set on the beautiful Armstrong Ranch in Texas. It’s a stand-alone story, but also revisits some of the people and places from my earlier book, The Story Between Us, a sweet contemporary romance. Sunset Ledge…

[ascendit2017-blog]

Pensieri per pianoforte e archi, Nelly LiPuma

[caridadpineiro]

Book or Movie? Which do you prefer?

I’ve been lucky to have two brushes with Hollywood. I did the novel tie-in to the Jane the Virgin television show. Very exciting! Jane even said my name on the air (I’ll have to find that clip for you!) But even more exciting was having South Beach Love turned into a Hallmark movie. But as with some adaptations there were changes which brings up today’s This or That. Would you rather read the…

[chantireviews]

Valentine's Day 2024 - SWEET READS From Chanticleer with all the Genres of the Heart

Will your book be our Valentine? At Chanticleer we love Romance Books and we love to show it off with our Chatelaine Awards! We’re currently working as hard as we can to get out the Finalist List for those Awards, and you can see the Semi-Finals for them here! Who will win? Only time will tell. However, right now we just want to celebrate some of the romantic books we’ve been able to discover.…

[authorrachelroy]

Frosted Kisses - Episode 3 (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1412021018-frosted-kisses-episode-3?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=AuthorRachelRoy&wp_originator=IKIWrKt48S5NPG3%2FzjBOMGXrBRlprKNAjCohz2WRqZVh7xxhjSvLCdHhBP7Hq5eG5rGaAv8KgzVZsqsZ6c5IRR%2B0TQm4EnIUFBC3iwod%2BiFCueQ9L75MI56U1wo33eYE Jessica is just out of a relationship, and wants nothing to do with men for a while. A four day escape skiing with her best friend is the perfect getaway...until she learns Mellie's little brother, Griffin, will be there, too. Stuck in a tiny cabin in Vermont is ok, until it's just the two of them alone in front of a crackling fire with no escape until the plows come through.

[jolenes-book-journey]

Forever to Fall by Libby Kay - Cover Reveal

Forever to Fall by Libby Kay - Cover Reveal

Welcome to Buckeye Falls, where second chances mend broken hearts for these childhood sweethearts. Wedding bells are ringing, but the sister of the groom is conflicted. Title: Forever to Fall Series: Buckeye Falls Book 5 Author: Libby Kay Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance Fifteen years ago, Mallory Lawson “married” her childhood sweetheart, Beckett, in a pretend wedding on his family’s apple…

[ovalleba]

The Montana Beach Series #tour #giveaway

One summer. Three separate love stories. And summer doesn’t last forever. Summer Stay Montana Beach Book 1 by D. Allen Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance Jessie moved back to picturesque Montana Beach after a heartbreaking split with her ex. She’s since thrown herself into her grandparent’s inn, which has been struggling financially thanks to the town having seen better days. With few options…

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: Meant to Be

Synopsis: A sexy, witty, fun contemporary romance novella from USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster originally published in the anthology In Bloom. Everyone deserves a second chance at new beginnings in New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster’s novella of family, homecoming, and love . . .When Cory Creed was just a little girl, she knew she’d grow up to marry Austin…