KCBR Blog

Crooked by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward needs to be your next book purchase.  Crooked is straight-up addictive. Pure #ViPen magic. I loved it so much that I actually listened to the audiobook — which was a first for me! Check out my spoiler-free review.

Synopsis

A new, sexy standalone from New York Times Bestsellers Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

The last thing I needed was a live-in bodyguard. And I definitely didn’t want him. Six foot two, with broad shoulders that were impossible to ignore and a talent for getting in my way, Wes Callahan was a walking bad decision.

But when you’re the daughter of a notorious mob boss, apparently your opinions stop mattering the moment your father ignites another war. I’d spent my entire life trying to escape that crooked world—new name, new city, newfound freedom. At least until I was suddenly shacked up with my new bodyguard.

Wes knew exactly how to push my buttons. He was also infuriatingly protective. And smart. And funny. And thoughtful when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. Little by little, the walls I’d built started to crack, and falling for the bodyguard became the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done. Because if my father found out, Wes wouldn’t just lose his job. He’d lose his life.

Getting involved with him was reckless, yet I couldn’t find a way to stop it, no matter how hard I tried. But while I was busy losing my heart, the man who took it was hiding a secret.

And it turned out, the most dangerous man in my life wasn’t my father after all—it was the one who threatened to break my heart.

Crooked features TWO stunning paperback covers, will be available in Kindle Unlimited, and has a simultaneous audiobook release! 

 ✔️ Live-in bodyguard

 ✔️ Mob boss’s daughter

 ✔️ Forced proximity

 ✔️ Forbidden attraction

Amazon: https://amzn.to/45Q5CEO

Alt cover: https://amzn.to/4koxCph 

Audio: https://amzn.to/41gbtkh

Crooked by Vi Keeland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward announced their first mafia romance, I knew I had to get my hands on it. These two have co-written some of my favorite romances, so seeing them step into the “darker” mafia bodyguard world with Crooked immediately had my attention.   I knew this book wasn’t going to be your typical mafia dark romance.  It’s Vi a Penelope, so you know this book is going to be a sexy and fun one-of-a-kind adventure.  

Juliette is the daughter of a notorious mafia boss with a target on her head.  Her father assigns Wes, one of his men, to become her live-in bodyguard to protect her full-time.  Wes has his own secrets and skeletons in his closet to deal with. Juliette wasn’t happy about her new house super hot guest —until she wasn’t.
Crooked delivers that perfect Vi-Pen blend of the feels, tension, humor, and heat, with a dangerous mafia edge that makes everything feel more intense. The chemistry and banter between Wes and Juliette were so addictive. I loved these characters so much that I finally busted my audiobook cherry and WOW. Hearing Wes and Juliette’s characters come to life took this story to a whole new level.  Great, I think I have a new audio book obsession thanks to these two.

Crooked is worthy of date night with a book. Reading Crooked wasn’t just another romance book—it was a full-on reader experience.  Crooked is easily on my top reads of 2026 romance book list. 

 

There Was Yours by S.L. Scott felt like a hug to the soul… and then completely wrecked me before putting me back together again. Then There Was You is set to release on March 27th, and you can download this one-of-a-kind romance via Kindle Unlimited. Check out my spoiler-free book review of Then There Was You by S.L. Scott.  Best of 2026.

Buy Links:

Download this book using Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bPr3bl

Audio: https://amzn.to/4syXpOw

Synopsis: 

The time is now.

New emotional and hopeful standalone novel by New York Times bestselling author S.L. Scott.

I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to smile, to laugh, and to really live. Until I met him.

Heart-stoppingly handsome.

Totally forbidden.

Keats Matthews looked at me like I was something special.

He was escaping his past. I wanted to escape my present. Together, we fell hard and fast and knew we had found forever. Or so we thought …

Six years later, his shoulders are broader than I remembered, his charming smile thaws my frozen heart, and it’s so tempting to run my fingers through his hair like I did years ago. But it’s the tenderness and warmth in his brown eyes that remind me of the forever we almost shared.

It’s magic when we’re together again. Our chemistry has only magnified. Seeing him, confident and more irresistible than ever, has me falling for him all over again and hoping for a second chance.

But he still believes our timing was off before. He’s wrong. It was the secret I kept hidden that was our undoing. Time hasn’t healed old wounds, and not everything hidden has come to light. When it does, we’ll stand together or fall apart. Either way, we must find out.

Author's Note: This contemporary standalone packs in the romance, heart-swoons, and love that never dies, but does not contain cheating or love triangles. It's one love in this book. Two souls that are meant for each other who will have to overcome obstacles to be together.

Spoiler-free Review: Then There Was You by S.L. Scott

Never Stopped Loving You by Siobhan Davis is LIVE and ready to binge-read on Kindle Unlimited.  Check out my spoiler-free review below. 

A brand-new emotional, angsty romance from the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the All of Me Series.

When Callan Hunt arrived at Ryemont High senior year, I couldn’t have predicted the hot Irish football player would become my everything … and end up breaking my heart.

College and dreams of a career in interior design were my sole focus until my new neighbor bulldozed his way into my life.

Callan had ambitions too. He planned to leave Vermont after graduation to pursue his dream of playing for an English Premier League club.

We weren’t looking for love, but fate had other plans.

When Callan was scouted during our freshman year of college, I couldn’t have been prouder.

Until everything came crashing down in one crippling blow.

I was devastated, and it took years to recover.

After finally moving on from the heartache of my past, I now have a successful career and a billionaire CEO fiancé.

Then my first love reappears.

Callan says it’s time I learned the truth about that night.

He claims he’s never stopped loving me and vows to fight for me in a way he couldn’t before.

He seems determined to keep every promise he ever made me, but how is it possible after everything that’s happened?

Spoiler-free Review: Never Stopped Loving You by Siobhan Davis

The Exception by Vi Keeland is exceptional. Check out my spoiler-free review of the sweet and sexy romance.  This book made me forget the world. Download The Exception now using Kindle Unlimited.

Title: The Exception

Author: Vi Keeland

Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Boss/Intern, Dominant Hero, Billionaire

Release Date: January 11, 2026

BLURB

He lives by a set of rules. She might be his one exception.

I just wanted a distraction, something to take the edge off before facing a wedding I was dreading. So on the flight back to New York, I signed up for a dating app. Harmless enough, right?

Wrong.

Turns out, it wasn’t just any app—it catered to people with very specific tastes. By the time I realized it, I was already on my date.

Tall, confident, and sinfully handsome, Jagger Langston seemed like the full package. The chemistry between us was instant—electric enough to burn the whole city down. Though things took a turn when we figured out I’d misunderstood who should join the app. We laughed it off, said goodbye, and went our separate ways.

Or so I thought.

Until I walked into my new internship Monday morning, ready to put the weekend behind me, and there he was—my boss.

Now I’m caught between the rules he lives by—and the temptation to make him break every single one of them.

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243784977-the-exception 

BOOKBUB LINK: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-exception-by-vi-keeland 

Kindle https://amzn.to/47EHcQ2

Audio: https://amzn.to/4nZnqU1

Paperback: https://amzn.to/47N7ONp

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/47EHcQ2
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4otS0Gw
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/4nLuzax
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3LrK4XU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

Also available in audio + print

Narrated by Sebastian York and Andi Arndt 
Audio: https://amzn.to/4nZnqU1
Special Edition Paperback: https://amzn.to/47N7ONp

Spoiler-free Review of The Exception by Vi Keeland 

The Exception by Vi Keeland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Exception by Vi Keeland was truly exceptional — a little kink, a lot of laughs, plenty of tension, and just the right amount of the feels to make you forget the world for a while. This workplace, opposites-attract romance is everything.

Sutton is a smart and sassy algorithm expert who meets Jagger on a dating app called DARE. They figure out pretty quickly that Sutton isn’t into Jagger’s brand of fun. They part ways until her internship begins. Enter Jagger: Sutton’s spicy, demanding new boss who will have you swooning from page one.

I also adored Sutton’s best friend, Miles. Everyone needs a Miles in their life. His banter with Sutton about Jagger is hysterical. He’s the ultimate best friend: loyal, chaotic in the best possible way, and the comedic relief we all need.
I would share my favorite quotes, but I don’t want to spoil the fun for you.

The Exception, releasing January 11, 2026, is another unputdownable and addictive romance from Vi. It has officially earned a spot on my Best of 2025/26 list.

AUTHOR BIO

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Israel, and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/vi.keeland 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Vi-Keeland/435952616513958 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ViKeelandFanGroup 

Website: http://www.vikeeland.com 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vikeeland 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/Vi_Keeland 

X: https://x.com/ViKeeland 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6887119.Vi_Keeland

The Homemaker by Jewel E. Ann is now live! Grab your copy of The Homemaker from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jewel E. Ann and lose yourself in this forbidden, high-stakes romance.  Check out my spoiler-free review and one-click this unforgettable romance book on Kindle Unlimited. 

Synopsis: 

A romance inspired by TS “Fortnight”

I was hers, but she was never mine.

Alice Yates is the hired “homemaker” for the Morrisons, an affluent couple in Minneapolis. For Alice, it’s a dream job to dress up like a 1950s housewife and read romance novels to Mr. Morrison before his afternoon nap.

But when the Morrisons’ only daughter returns home for the summer with her fiancé, Alice comes face-to-face with her shattered past—the only threat to her perfect life.

Eight years earlier, vacation rental owner Murphy Paddon had an impeccable vinyl record collection and did the most irresistible thing before kissing Alice, earning him a five-star rating. Their fortnight love affair was life-altering and ended tragically.

Murphy doesn’t know if Alice remembers him or whether he should tell his fiancée that the hired-help living in the guesthouse is the woman who irreparably broke his heart. He needs closure, but will the lingering glances and silent yearning lead to the end or just the beginning?

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3UPLWuG

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/S26fj 

Audible: http://bit.ly/4nu17pZ

Narrated by Charlotte North & Robert Hatchet

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/457iBCa

The House Guest by Penelope Ward is LIVE and one of my top reads of the year. Read my spoiler-free review below. Get this book now on Kindle Unlimited.

What You Can Expect:

• BILLIONAIRE HERO

• ROOMMATES

• TWIST

• SLOW BURN

• ANGSTY AND FORBIDDEN

Available to read using Kindle Unlimited now! 

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3HYqOQ6

Audio: https://amzn.to/4g2etXV

Special Edition Paperback: https://amzn.to/3JAHP3v

Model paperback cover: https://amzn.to/463eHti

SYNOPSIS:

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE contemporary romance…

The last thing Dorian Vanderbilt expected was to find me painting in my crop top when he returned to the mansion he hadn’t inhabited in years.

He was understandably surprised I’d turned his living room into an art space.

Life is certainly full of surprises, though, but not always in a good way.

I learned that lesson when my aunt and the billionaire she married died unexpectedly while traveling.

I’d been living with them, and just like that, my life was turned on its axis.

Unsure of what was next, I stayed alone at the barren estate figuring out my next move.

That was when Dorian—the late billionaire’s only son—showed up. 

I’d never met Dorian Vanderbilt. He’d been living on the other side of the country.

But now, he was home, left to pick up the pieces of his father’s legacy.

Not only was Dorian devastatingly handsome and mysterious, but he was the sole heir to the Vanderbilt fortune.

He didn’t seem to like me—at first. We were total opposites. But I was grateful that at least he didn’t kick me out.

We stayed out of each other’s way for the most part, save for some late-night kitchen run-ins or unexpected bonding sessions in the home theater.

Over time, though, we grew closer. Turned out, our chemistry was pretty combustible.

I was falling in love with him.

Until everything I thought I knew turned upside down yet again.

And fate left me pining for the one man I’d ever loved.

Synopsis: