This month we have freebies, holiday-themed love stories of every trope you can imagine! So, click on the banner and find some sweet, steamy and swoon-worthy reads this month.
A cheating ex.
A backstabbing former bestie
A roommate situation straight out of hell.
Moving to a small town wasn’t on my BINGO card, but it suddenly made perfect sense.
One dart aimed at a map, and I landed in Mustang Prairie.
Turns out, small-town America isn’t all tractors and apple pies.
Now I’ve got silver-haired ladies showing up early to my dance class, a solid new crew of friends, and the hottest man I’ve ever seen—who just so happens to live next door.
He’s short.
He’s rude.
He’s grump AF.
And somehow, he’s exactly what I didn’t know I needed.
We’re both battle-scarred
Both running scared
Both a little bit broken
Is this thing between us real enough to heal us,
Or will we end up running…again?
Wanderer. Lover of books. Romance author. Vegan. Those are just some of the things used to describe me! When I’m not spinning tales of small town and contemporary romance, I love to travel, cook and watch/listen to true crime, history & strange documentaries and podcasts. I’m a Chicago native who has been in love with books for as long as I can remember.
My first book, Conflict of Interest was published in 2014 and I’ve been writing books ever since! I’m a full-time writer and part-time author, traveler, vegan blogger and obsessive fan of Dawson’s Creek.
Welcome to Barren Hill—where the rolling Hill Country hides more than just breathtaking views. In this small town full of big hearts, grumpy yet irresistible men find unexpected love with spunky heroines in stories brimming with warmth, healing, and second chances. From wounded warriors to everyday heroes, each contemporary romantic short by Willow Sanders delivers swoony moments, small-town charm, and emotional depth. These bite-sized reads are perfect for devouring in a single sitting.
Read Beard on Tap for $0.99→ https://books2read.com/beardontap
Read Codename Dustoff for $0.99→ http://books2read.com/codenamedustoff
Read Whiskey Business for $0.99→ https://books2read.com/whiskeybusiness
She fell into a ravine. He caught her—and never let go. Set against the rugged charm of Baren Hill, this heartfelt romance delivers a swoony grumpy sunshine dynamic, a heroine rediscovering herself after divorce, and a cinnamon roll mountain man with a beard—and a bar—to fall for.
Read Beard on Tap Here→ https://books2read.com/beardontap
Copyright 2025, Willow Sanders
“Fuck. Hello? Ouch! Motherfucking dick waffle!”
Usually it was songbirds and toads that greeted me, not a foul-mouthed woman.
“Hello?” she called again. “Please tell me those are human footsteps crunching on the gravel. Though it would totally be my luck if I met my demise being some bear’s post-hibernation meal.”
“Do you always talk to yourself?” I called into the air.
“Oh, thank god. Hi! I honestly thought I was going to die down here.”
Down. As in the ravine. Hell’s fire, she was in the ravine.
“Do I need to call an ambulance?”
“No, I’m okay. I think I twisted my ankle though. I tried to stand on it a second ago and it was not having it.”
I shot a text off to Emmett to keep him on standby, then climbed down.
Her smile when I got to her exploded in relief.
“Yoga pants and flip flops?” I helped pull her to a stand. “Did you get dropped on your head? What makes you think that is acceptable attire for these trails?”
“Excuse me?” she shoved away, nearly losing her balance until I caught her. “Was I dropped on my head?”
“There are snakes out here,” I pointed at her toes. “You startle them, they’ll be revoking your birth certificate.”
She was already pretty pale, but at the mention of critters her face blanched to near white.
“You miss the mountain signs all over town? Ski in the winter, hike in the summer? What part of the word ‘mountain’ implies you can skip around here in those?”
“We gotta get some ice on that.”
“After you just insulted my intelligence, do you honestly think I would have any inclination to accept help from you?”
I extended my hand. She stood there like a damn flamingo. I lost the last shred of patience I had and scooped her up.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She kicked in my arms like a wet cat. My palm had strict directives from my brain to stay right the fuck where it was tucked beneath her knees. The yoga pants she wore had to have been painted on her body, because every curve brushed against me like she wore nothing at all.
“Are you insane? What kind of a person just picks someone up without their permission?”
She pitched her fit all the way to the top. Thankfully, The Old Lady was less than fifty meters from the ravine. She’d get over it real quick.
Set against the rugged charm of Baren Hill, this heartfelt romance delivers a swoony grumpy sunshine dynamic, a heroine rediscovering herself after divorce, and a cinnamon roll mountain man with a beard—and a bar—to fall for. Readers who love a confident, capable older heroine, romantic tension with payoff, witty banter, and filthy dialogue will consume Beard on Tap by Willow Sanders.
Read Now At Your Favorite Retailers!
◆ Finn ◆
Used to be, the family bar was hopping until last call every night. Now? If the bank doesn’t take her away from me in the next two months, it’ll be a miracle. All because some fatcat politician thought building a new highway would earn him a few more votes. The last thing I need? A firecracker who has curves in all the right places and a smart mouth, telling me what to do to save my own damn bar. I can do this alone; except I recognize the pain I see in those moss-colored eyes. Sure I don’t need any help, but it seems like she does.
All I wanted was a relaxing vacation. Fresh mountain air. Some uninterrupted time with a book. Yeah, right. Maybe I could relax if the bar I stumbled upon—literally– wasn’t run by the sexiest, and most annoying, man in the world. Five minutes in, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to drag him across the bar and kiss him or pour my beer down his flannel shirt. He won’t ask for help, but what he doesn’t know? I’ve never backed down from a challenge. Finn’s going to learn just how stubborn I can be. And maybe…we’ll find our happily ever after.
Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57803028-beard-on-tap
Excerpt
Copyright 2025, Willow Sanders
Time had morphed in hyper speed. One minute Finn and Emmett were loading me into the front seat of the biggest pick-up truck I’d ever laid eyes on, and the next Finn was helping me out of the truck, and balancing me against the door while we waited for the bellhop to bring the wheelchair.
“Thank you,” I said. My hands wrapped around his biceps, though I don’t remember putting them there. He looked filled out but not bulky. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that he was as firm in the arms and shoulders that he actually was. “I know I didn’t say it earlier. But, I appreciate it. Well, you. Especially hauling my ass out of that ravine.”
“It’s a baby ravine. More like a gulch than anything.”
I could smell the whiskey on his breath too. It was a homing beacon for the part of whiskey that controls your libido. One minute we’re standing there awkwardly waiting for the bellhop, and the next I’m nibbling on his lips, testing how firm and heavy they felt caressing mine.
“You’ll be gone in a few days.” His fingers cradled my shoulder, holding me at the slightest distance. “This isn’t a good thing to start.”
“That I’ll be gone in a few days is precisely why it’s the best kind of thing to start.”
I tried to go in again, because the first swipe of my lips did little to dampen the molten desire that threatened to erupt.
“Princess, you start this, and I promise you won’t want to stop.”
My fingers itched to bury themselves in his beard. To feel for myself if it was soft or wiry, if he liked being caressed there or if it bothered him. The truth was I just wanted to feel his mouth again. I wanted more of the heaviness of his lips pressed against mine, being wrapped in his scent like a scarf on a snowy day.
“Someone’s overconfident.”
Me, apparently. While I can’t say that this “wasn’t like me” because quite honestly, I’d been a “me” alongside someone else for so long I don’t even know what my singular identity was.
“Oh, I’m sure of it. I’m not the kind of person that has missionary style penciled in my agenda– sex, with a blow job kicker for birthdays and anniversaries. I’m a flip you over, pull your hair, plunge my finger into your hidden treasure and tell you to take it like a good girl. I’ll wreck you. You won’t want it any other way after me. And I’m not the matching retirement account and monogrammed towels kind of man.”
“The towels just end up going to the Goodwill anyway,” I tell him, before pushing myself into his space. It was all the invitation he needed. He cradled my jaw firmly between his thumb and finger, and plundered my mouth like there was buried treasure that could only be unearthed with a very adroit tongue.
My whole being melted. Liquid heat erupted down my spine, sending the most delicious of sensations from the tips of my ears all the way to my curling toes.
“Ahem.”
The bellboy appeared. Top notch customer fucking service. Great timing too. The Yelp review practically wrote itself.
“Ms. James, I’m here to take you to your room. I’ve just come from there, the staff is setting your dining room for dinner, so we best get moving so it doesn’t get cold.”
Alistair, according to his nametag, had the good sense to school his features and not indicate he’d just walked into what felt like a pornographic display of lips, teeth and tongue.
The atmosphere cooled. Finn stepped back wiping his lips and shooting me a sheepish wink.
“Feel better, Ms. James. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”
Before I could even say thanks for rescuing me, or hey come back to my hotel room and prove it, he was behind the wheel of his truck and pulling out of the roundabout.
Unfortunately for me, every blood cell in my body vibrated in concert, and the song it sang was about a bar owner named Finn with concrete gray eyes, and a dirty, pouty mouth.
About Willow Sanders
A marketer by day, and author by night, Willow Sanders is a best-selling author of sweet with heat Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense. She loves to write spunky, take no shit women, and understanding men with a strong side of sarcasm and an extra helping of BDE. When not writing you can find her torn between her loyalty to the Fighting Illini and her husband’s loyalty to Michigan State, bemoaning traffic, feeding her caffeine addiction, and trying to find the connection between her and the Gilmore Girls–because she is certain she is a long-lost family member.
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◆ Finn ◆
Used to be, the family bar was hopping until last call every night. Now? If the bank doesn’t take her away from me in the next two months, it’ll be a miracle. All because some fatcat politician thought building a new highway would earn him a few more votes. The last thing I need? A firecracker who has curves in all the right places and a smart mouth, telling me what to do to save my own damn bar. I can do this alone; except I recognize the pain I see in those moss-colored eyes. Sure I don’t need any help, but it seems like she does.
♥ Gemini ♥
All I wanted was a relaxing vacation. Fresh mountain air. Some uninterrupted time with a book. Yeah, right. Maybe I could relax if the bar I stumbled upon—literally– wasn’t run by the sexiest, and most annoying, man in the world. Five minutes in, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to drag him across the bar and kiss him or pour my beer down his flannel shirt. He won’t ask for help, but what he doesn’t know? I’ve never backed down from a challenge. Finn’s going to learn just how stubborn I can be. And maybe…we’ll find our happily ever after.
𝑨 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.
𝑨 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕-𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔.
𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏—𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆—𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆—𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔.
A cheating ex.
A backstabbing former bestie
A roommate situation straight out of hell.
Moving to a small town wasn’t on my BINGO card, but it suddenly made perfect sense.
One dart aimed at a map, and I landed in Mustang Prairie.
Turns out, small-town America isn’t all tractors and apple pies.
Now I’ve got silver-haired ladies showing up early to my dance class,a solid new crew of friends, and the hottest man I’ve ever seen—who just so happens to live next door.
He’s short.
He’s rude.
He’s grump AF.
And somehow, he’s exactly what I didn’t know I needed.
We’re both battle-scarred
Both running scared
Both a little bit broken
Is this thing between us real enough to heal us,
Or will we end up running…again?
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