KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

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IS THIS LOVE FUR REAL?
A Steamy Marley Creek Romance
BY VICTORIA HAMEL

BLURB

She’s scared of heartbreak and tells herself she’s too busy for romance.
Graduate Student Mable Weaverton needs a place away from her wild roommate to finish her summer project. When her boss has to leave town for two weeks and asks her to house sit and take care of his dog, Iggy, she jumps at the chance. But nobody told her how bonkers puppies can be and when disaster after disaster happen, she’s forced to ask a sexy dog trainer for help.

Last time he gave away his heart, it was returned mercilessly crushed.
Ethan Harper is on summer break from his manny job and should be enjoying his time off. Instead, his mind won’t stop rehashing a recent breakup. When a friend recommends his dog training skills, he’s grateful for the distraction. But focusing on reining in cute-but-out-control Iggy proves nearly impossible when sparks fly between him and the luscious Mable.

Can a chaotic puppy teach them to let go of the past and find a future together?
When a tornado approaches town, Mable and Ethan are stuck in a bathroom together with a frightened Iggy. They finally acknowledge there’s more between them than just dog training business. And just as they are about to kindle their sizzling attraction into a full-fledged fire, more chaos threatens to douse the flames. Ethan’s ex has returned, and she wants him back.

Is This Love Fur Real? Is a small-town, forced proximity, steamy romance, featuring a puppy who knows best, a short king who falls first, and a stressed-out grad student too busy for love. Part of the Marley Creek Romance Series, this standalone story has Hallmark movie vibes, and a guaranteed HEA.

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IS THIS LOVE FUR REAL?
A Steamy Marley Creek Romance
BY VICTORIA HAMEL

Marley Creek Tropes

In each of my Marley Creek books, I like to feature people who are in different places in their lives and a wide variety of romance tropes. My editorial decisions are usually based on what I enjoy reading or things I know my readers will enjoy. No Gouda Without You features grumpy/sunshine, but she’s the grumpy one. I love the grumpy/sunshine trope, but in real life I’m definitely the grumpy one, so why not have my female lead also have those grumpy vibes! 

In Too Kölsch For Comfort, I wrote a story featuring probably me favorite trope, a fake relationship, and for good measure Zaina and Jasper get snowed in at the craft brewery. It’s actually an ice storm—but trapped just the same. Moving on to book three, Is This Love Fur Real? For this story I used some of the cozy mystery elements I love—punny title and a pet side kick, and mix that into a story of new adults featuring forced proximity. I also decided this would be the book where I wrote a male main character that was shorter than his love interest. 

My latest release, It App-ened One Night, features a later-in-life couple. He’s forty-seven and she’s thirty-eight. Donnie is also widower and single dad to a teen. Susan is back home after twenty years to take care of her mother who broke a hip. Because Donnie and Susan have heavy things to deal with, their relationship features a lot of fun and games centered around high school hijinks. 

Would you like a little sneak peek at what I’m writing now?  Your Mr. Brightside has an age gap, Luc is a single twenty-six-year-old sous chef and Brandee is a thirty-one-year-old single mom who works as paraprofessional (teacher’s aide) and a respite care worker. The book starts off with Brandee and Luc meeting at a party and hooking up. She thinks she won’t see him again, but we all know what is going to happen, right? 

One of the reasons I keep writing is that there are so many fun tropes to incorporate in a story! What are your favorite tropes? Does one of my books sound like a good fit for you?  

About Author Victoria Hamel…

Links to Victoria’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:

Ready to take a vacation to Marley Creek?

It App-ened One Night: https://a.co/d/3aDGZoV

Is This Love Fur Real?: https://a.co/d/9EQ6lFl

Too Kölsch For Comfort: https://a.co/d/hY1plbj

No Gouda Without You: https://a.co/d/fWu3NB1

You can find out more about Victoria and all things Marley Creek at her website: https://victoriahamelauthor.com. She’s also on Facebook at https://facebook.com/victoriahamelauthor and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/victoriahamelauthor

If you’d like to read the free prequel, all you need to do is subscribe to my newsletter and Surprise Party is your free gift!  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/7rfrm7oowk

Happy Reading!

Thanks, Victoria, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!