Thursday, February 19, 2026

Preorder All Booked Up by Melody Carlson


  All Booked Up by Melody Carlson is available for Preorder! Preorder your copy today from your favorite book retailer.


When preserving precious memories means welcoming unexpected changes, Riva finds that her heart has room for so much more than she imagined.

Widowed empty nester Riva Owen lives in the Victorian house that's been in her family for three generations, but finances have become a challenge she can no longer ignore. Her daughter is pushing her to move, and after considering all her options, Riva knows selling would be the smartest course. But she just can't bring herself to leave decades of memories--and her cherished library filled with hundreds of books.

When she pursues an alternative--opening her home to women like her who need a room to rent--Riva is unprepared for the mix of personalities and peculiarities of her new housemates. She is even more unprepared for Marcus, the handsome and handy older brother of one of her new tenants. The possibility of finding love again feels overwhelming, even as her tenants seem to have romantic schemes of their own.

Warm your heart with a story of found family, book lovers, and a second chance at love.

#preorder #mustread #Romance #fiction #themaryreader

Pick up your copy here...


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/

Finding Beauty by Ann Penny


 Sometimes, the greatest love stories begin with a second chance.


Starting over in New York City is 
Melanie Warren’s chance to prove she doesn’t need her parents’ wealth, high-society status, or her ex-fiancĂ©, Grayson. Determined to stand on her own, she refuses to look back, until her new job brings her face-to-face with the one man she swore never to forgive.

Scott Blackwood is no longer the reckless boy with a troubled past. Now, he’s wealthy, powerful, and everything he once dreamed of becoming. But to Melanie, he’s still the man who shattered her seventeen year old heart and never looked back.

Their chemistry is undeniable, their past impossible to forget. As old wounds resurface and the lines between them blur, Melanie is faced with a choice: hold on to her heartbreak or risk everything for a second chance at love. Because the biggest secret of all? She never stopped loving him.

Pick up your copy here...


Ann Penny is an empathetic daydreamer who escapes reality through her written words.

She loves to immerse herself in nature and creative arts, and heal trauma through writing heartfelt stories where she can truly embrace the light and shade of life and love.

Penny navigates her beautiful chaotic world with her amazing husband and their two mischievous boys while endeavouring to harness her hyperactive mind and quirky sense of humour.

The New Neighbors by Claire Douglas


 Unassuming neighbors may not be what they seem in this twisty, spine-tingling thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Couple at Number 9 and The Girls Who Disappeared.

They seem like the perfect couple. But what are they hiding?
When Lena overhears a conversation between her next-door-neighbors she thinks she must have misheard.
The Morgans are a kind, retired couple who recently moved to their sleepy suburban street in Bristol where nothing ever happens. But to Lena it sounded very much like they were planning a crime.
Her family and friends tell her she must be mistaken. Yet Lena can’t stop thinking about that strange conversation. What if they really are about to do something terrible?
What if she can prevent it?

Especially when doing something might help ease her conscience about her own dark past . . .




Claire Douglas is the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of eight stand alone novels: The Sisters (2015), Local Girl Missing (2016), Last Seen Alive (2017), Do Not Disturb (2018), Then She Vanishes (2019) and Just Like The Other Girls (2020). Her seventh, The Couple At No 9 (2021) was an Amazon number one bestseller, a number three Sunday Times bestseller and most recently hit number one on Germany's Der Spiegel paperback bestsellers chart. The Girls Who Disappeared was a Richard and Judy book club pick for Autumn 2022 and was an instant number one Sunday Times bestseller. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK and have been published worldwide.

Her most recent, THE WOMAN WHO LIED will be published on July 6th 2023.

You can find Claire on Twitter at @DougieClaire, Instagram as clairedouglasauthor, or visit her Facebook page clairedouglasauthor.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Crimson Refuge by Sienna Judd


 I was done wanting love. Done with trust. Done with hope.

Then Freya Johnson walked into my life—curious, relentless, too young for me, and completely off-limits. I was her mentor. Her safe place. Her friend. And a man who knew better than to touch her.
And I didn’t.
Not until she left for the LAPD.
Not until one night blew straight through every line I’d drawn.
I never meant for that night to change anything.
But it changed 
everything.
The line I drew is now two pink ones, and when she comes back to Echo Valley—taking a quieter desk job while we try to figure out next steps—every boundary I’ve built starts to crack.
Because being her friend, her co-parent, her roommate… none of it touches the truth of what I want when I look at her.
When she becomes the lead officer on a case no one can quite explain, something dangerous starts circling closer than she realizes. It isn’t just instinct that locks tight inside my chest.
It’s fierce protectiveness.
The and there I realize she’s already mine, 
whether I’ve told her or not.
Wanting her is the fastest way to lose myself again.
But if this threat reaches her first, it won’t just cost me control.
It will cost me the one thing I never planned to risk again.

Crimson Refuge is the heart-racing story of a rookie and her mentor, a friends to lovers, accidental pregnancy with a hero who is all out touch her and d!e. This book is part of the Echo Valley series of interconnected standalones, better read in order, but it can be read on its own.

Pick up your copy here...


Sienna Judd is a small town, contemporary romance author who lives for all the spice and book boyfriends who are book husband material.

Sienna is an American girl married to her Prince Charming. She lives with her husband, three children, pony, dogs, guineas pigs and countless other animals on a small farm England. She thinks kitchens are for dancing, is everybody's hype girl and might be known for talking too loudly. Like every respectable woman she also loves drinking champagne and eating half of every chocolate in a truffles box.

Her spirit animal is a butterfly.


Hunt You Down by Elizabeth Knox


 I thought I escaped hell when I ran from the Sanctuary.

Hell found me on a Valentine's Day auction block, where men in black ties bid on virgins like livestock. Where the highest bidder owns you—body, mind, and soul.

Vaughn Sutherland paid more for me than most people see in a lifetime.

He put me in a room with silk sheets and locked doors. He touched me in ways that made me forget my own name. He made me want things I shouldn't want.

So, I ran.

I made it a few hours before he found me.

I expected punishment. Expected pain. Expected him to finally show me the monster beneath the patient facade.

Instead, he gave me pleasure.

Over and over until I broke. Until I begged. Until I couldn't remember why I ever wanted to leave.

Now I sleep in his bed, not the guest room. Now he watches my every move. Now every choice I thought I had is gone—except one.

Submit willingly to his training for the Consortium gathering, or he'll break me until I do. And the worst part? I'm starting to want to submit.

Pick up your copy here...


Elizabeth is a USA Today Bestselling author who is most popular for her romantic suspense and dark romance books.

Please make sure you click the follow author button to ensure you're signed up for all of Elizabeth's latest releases.

Monday, February 16, 2026

Without A Clue by Melissa Ferguson


 A laugh-out-loud rom-com wrapped in a whodunit, this high-seas adventure proves that sometimes the best love stories start with a little murder.

Penelope Mae Dupont has one superpower: keeping her cool. Which is essential when you're the personal assistant to renowned mystery author Hugh Griffin. But when Pip organizes a luxury book cruise featuring The Fabulous Seven--a glittering cast of seven bestselling authors known for both their brilliance and their drama--her trademark composure starts slipping. One boat. Seven egos. Hundreds of fans. What could possibly go wrong?

Well . . . murder, for starters.

On day two, Hugh is found dead--and the cruise security team proves to be utterly incompetent. Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic with no help in sight, Pip realizes if anyone's going to solve the case, it'll have to be her. And so, with her friend and ally Nash, the dreamy Western author who's just as rugged as the cowboys he writes about, she puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test.

As Pip and Nash navigate an ocean of secrets, shocking twists, and one too many red herrings, she'll have to decide whether she's meant to stay behind the scenes--or finally step into the spotlight . . . and maybe, just maybe, find love along the way.

In the world of mystery and love, sometimes you have to risk going overboard to find the truth.

Pick up your copy here...


Melissa Ferguson is the bestselling author of titles including Meet Me in the Margins, Famous for a Living, and How to Plot a Payback. She lives in Tennessee with her family in their growing farmhouse lifestyle and writes heartwarming romantic comedies.

You can find her on her socials at @ourfriendlyfarmhouse.


I liked some of the characters and then others I was not impressed with. But I really enjoyed the mystery it was well done. I love a book that keeps me guessing. I found the romance a nice secondary story.
This was a nice surprise.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Sunday, February 15, 2026

The Collectors by David Baldacci


 While a gifted con artist plots against the most ruthless businessman in the world, the Camel Club must stop a renegade CIA agent from selling American secrets to the highest bidder in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.


The assassination of the speaker of the House has rocked the nation. And the Camel Club has found a chilling connection with another death: that of the director of the Library of Congress's Rare Books and Special Collections Division.

The club's unofficial leader, a man who calls himself Oliver Stone, discovers that someone is selling America to its enemies one secret at a time. Then Annabelle Conroy, the greatest con artist of her generation, comes to town and joins forces with the Camel Club for her own reasons. And Stone will need all the help she can give, because the two murders are hurtling the Camel Club into a world of espionage that is bringing America to its knees.

Pick up your copy here...


David Baldacci has been writing since childhood, when his mother gave him a lined notebook in which to write down his stories. (Much later, when David thanked her for being the spark that ignited his writing career, she revealed that she'd given him the notebook to keep him quiet, "because every mom needs a break now and then.")

David published his first novel, ABSOLUTE POWER, in 1996. The feature film adaptation followed, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star. In total, David has published 50 novels for adults; all have been national and international bestsellers and several have been adapted for film and television. His novels have been translated into over 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. David has also published seven novels for younger readers.

David is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy programs across the United States.