It's release day!!!!!

It’s been a long year of waiting, but the third and final book in the Say Everything series is here! I’m so excited to share For You & No One Else with y’all. Eliza and Beckham were such fun characters to write, and I’m going to miss living in that world with them (and Hollyn, Jasper, Andi, and Hill.) I hope you enjoy this last adventure!

Scroll down for an exclusive excerpt!

About the book:

She has the perfect life…and it’s a perfect lie.

Behind the careful façade, she’s struggling:

To feel like she fits in. To find her true voice.

Now, finally, she’s ready to start living her own story.

Eliza Catalano has the perfect life. So what if it actually looks nothing like the story she tells online?  As a therapist, it’s part of her job to look like she has all the answers, right? But when Eliza ends up as a viral “Worst Date Ever” meme, everything in her Instagram-filtered world begins to crumble. 

Enter the most obnoxiously attractive man she's ever met, and a bet she can't resist: if she swears off social media for six months, Beck Carter’ll teach her the wonders of surviving the "real world." No technology, no dating apps, no pretty filters, no BS.

It seems like the perfect deal—she can lay low until her sudden infamy passes, meet some interesting new people, and maybe even curate this experience into a how I quit the online dating racket book along the way. But something about Beck’s raw honesty speaks to Eliza in ways she never expected. She knows he’s supposed to be completely hands-off…but as complex feelings grow and walls come tumbling down, rough-around-the-edges Beck may be exactly what Eliza needs to finally, truly face herself—and decide who she really wants to be.

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Exclusive excerpt:

“What a loser,” Beckham said, disgusted. “He wanted the hot YouTube therapist and knew she was way the hell out of his league, so he stacked the deck in his favor.”

She smirked and dabbed at her mouth. “I am out of his league, aren’t I?”

He grinned. “Eli, he’s not even on the practice squad of your league.”

“And you were right, the dog wasn’t his.”

He snapped his fingers and pointed. “See? I could feel that. No dog would have him. He was definitely holding Fluffy hostage.”

She pressed her fingers to the spot between her eyes and shook her head, but a smile lingered on her lips. “Thanks, Beckham. You have an uncanny ability to show up when I’m at my worst and make me feel better. I promise I’m higher functioning than how I’ve appeared lately. People do pay me to help with their problems.”

He clasped his hands between his spread knees. “Who says you always have to be high-functioning?”

She gave him a droll look. “Um, everyone. I’m a therapist. My job depends on people believing I have it together at all times.”

He grunted. “Tough job requirement. Not allowed to be human?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not fully.”

“Well, I’ll keep your secret.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “That you’re not a robot.”

She stared at him for a moment and then gave him a sad smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“I’m feeling a little better. I’m going to go and let you get home.” She rubbed her palms along her skirt. “But before I do, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She narrowed her eyes like she was concentrating and trying to find the right words. “I’m not sure how much booze I still have in my system and if I’m processing things correctly, but earlier…were you about to offer to be an FWB hookup?”

The question made tension rush through him and he got to his feet. He should say no, that she’d misconstrued what he’d said. He could back out now, no harm, no foul. She probably wouldn’t even remember half of their conversation tomorrow.

“Never mind.” She stood and wobbled a little.

On instinct, he put a hand to her elbow to steady her. Her skin was warm, silky. The truth fell out of him. “I was. I know that’s not what you’re looking for, but if you ever find the idea of a low-key hookup with a friend…interesting, or just want to have a little fun while you’re looking for the guy, I bet we could figure out some ways to entertain ourselves.”

Her brown eyes were more focused than they’d been all night, her gaze calculating, then a playful smile curved her lips. “Would you let me lick your tattoos?”

He laughed at the unexpected question even as heat rushed straight downward at the thought. “You’re definitely still a little drunk.”

“Maybe,” she murmured.

“But, Eli”—he bent close to her ear—“I’d let you lick whatever you want…as long as I got the same privilege afforded to me.”

She shuddered a little in his grip and exhaled slowly. “I’ll…keep that in mind.”

He leaned back, shaking his head. No way would she remember this conversation tomorrow.

Want another excerpt and to check out some hero inspiration pics? Click here.

Reviews

Hope you enjoy the book! And if you do, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, a bookstore site, and/or Goodreads. Reviews help so much to get a book in front of more readers’ eyes. I often see my books called “undiscovered gems” by readers. Let’s get this one discovered! LOL.

Thanks, y’all! (And thank you to all of you who have already left early reviews! <3

My Favorite Books of 2021 & My New Reading Challenges for 2022

Happy new year!

Unlike previous years, I didn’t post my favorite books of 2021 on the blog and I didn’t post my reading challenges. That’s because I did podcast episodes about both those things and didn’t want to spoil things! But the episodes have been out for a little while now, so I thought I’d post things here for those of you who aren’t listening. You can get details on my favorites and on the challenges in the episodes below. However, if you just want the nitty-gritty list, I still wanted to share those things here because it’s tradition! :)

RAD Reading podcast episodes:

The Best of the Best: Our Top Reads of 2021

Let’s Get Nerdy: Setting Reading Challenges and Goals for 2022

My Fave Reads of 2021 (in no particular order)

My 2022 Reading Challenges

  • Roni’s Bookish Subscription challenge - read 12 books from bookish subscriptions

  • Roni’s Indie Author challenge - read at least 10 indie-published books

  • Roni’s Romance Roots challenge - read 12 foundational romances

Here are the pages in my journal for each…

Feel free to join in with me! And if those aren’t a fit for you, check out my previous challenges:

Roni’s Read Wide challenge

Roni’s TBR Backlog challenge

I finished both this year! Don’t the pages look pretty all filled in? :)

What were some of your favorite reads of 2021? And what (if any) bookish challenges are you tackling in 2022?

What -to-Read Decision Fatigue & Relishing the Ridiculous

Just wanted to pop in and update you on a few things.

First, if you missed my last post, I’ve moved my newsletter to Substack. The good news is that you can view it online before subscribing to see if it’s your jam. Also, it lets you leave comments like a blog post! I have a new letter over there today about Relishing the Ridiculous: Bonkers romance plots, Hallmark-style movies, and the gift of not having to be so serious all the time.

You can read the whole thing for free here!

There’s also a new episode of RAD Reading out today. We’re talking about What-to-Read Decision fatigue and how to read those Amazon and Goodreads reviews because not all is as it seems. :)

Listen in your favorite podcast app:

I’m also offering a free download of the TBR spreadsheet I use to keep track of recommendations and why I wanted to read something in the first place. Just scroll down in that post I linked to and you can grab that in the show notes.

And in case you missed it, Crash Into You, my very first novel and the start of The Loving on the Edge series is on sale for $2.99 in ebook. It’s usually $15.99 in ebook, y’all, so grab it. Book 2, Melt Into You, is also on deep discount at $5.99!

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend!