Category Archives: Romance

One for the Road by Katia Rose

It’s the phrase on the tip of everyone’s tongues. For three years, every staff member and regular at Taverne Toulouse has watched Zach and DeeDee edge their way closer to the grand finale of a ‘will they, won’t they’ dance that feels like it’s lasted for decades. Bets have been placed. Wagers have been drawn. The whole of Montreal’s most famous dive bar is holding its breath. Will the small town boy with a heart of gold finally make a move on the wild, pink-haired bartender he’s been in love with for years, or will the moment pass them by and leave Zach and DeeDee insisting they’re ‘just friends’ yet again?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Violence against sex workers mentioned
  • Drug use mentioned

Glass Half Full by Katia Rose

Back at home with half a college degree after the fiasco of the century sent her packing, it’s safe to say that Renee Nyobé is losing some. She’s a hot mess, and not the cute kind. No, if hot messes had categories, hers would be ‘littering the stairs of the metro station with your sweaty underwear because you were too busy rushing to the job interview you’re already late for to zip up your yoga bag.’ A job—any job—is just what she needs to get her life back on track, and it might as well be at Montreal’s most famous dive bar, Taverne Toulouse. Dylan Trottard is winning some. As Taverne Toulouse’s new manager, he’s got one… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Workplace harassment
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Drug use
  • Incarceration recounted

The Bar Next Door by Katia Rose

As the manager of Montreal’s most infamous dive bar, Monroe—and it’s just Monroe, thank you very much—is used to serving up her signature pearls of wisdom alongside an array of shots, pints, and pitchers. In fact, she thrives on it. Taverne Toulouse is a mighty ship, and she its fearless captain, trusted by patrons and bar staff alike to steer them through choppy waters. If only she’d been given a little warning before a full-on tsunami swept in next door. Julien Valois’ wining and dining empire is making waves. The next item on his agenda is opening a trendy lounge right next to Monroe’s beloved Taverne Toulouse-one that’s meant to run… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a grandparent
  • Death of a parent recounted

Latte Girl by Katia Rose

Her grueling shifts at a cafe in the heart of the city’s business sector are rarely punctuated by anything special, so when the gorgeous heir to the security company next door strides into Hailey’s life, it feels like punctuation with a capital P (or D, depending on your preferred terminology.) Jordan Knox is enough to send her heart racing faster than a triple shot of espresso, and when the attraction proves to be mutual, no hidden corners or empty offices are safe from their game of cat and mouse. But when she’s ready to drop the pretenses, Jordan continues to hold back, and Hailey realizes he’s been hiding secrets that could make whatever’s brewing between them boil over and burn.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Workplace sexual harassment & sexism
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Parent with heart disease
  • Stroke (parent)

Your Chorus by Katia Rose

Spending three weeks on a bus with your boyfriend, his rock band, and their entire tour crew: possibly a bad idea. Spending three weeks on a bus with your ex-boyfriend, his rock band, and their entire tour crew: definitely a bad idea. But with the contract signed and the gigs all booked, Roxanne Nadeau finds herself heading out on the road as the accompanying violinist for reigning rock gods Sherbrooke Station, despite being on less than cordial terms with their bassist. Not that the situation comes as a surprise. Roxanne and Cole’s near-constant on/off status has become a longstanding joke among their friends… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Familial estrangement & child neglect
  • Sexual assault of a minor recounted (step-parent/child)
  • Nonfatal heart attack (off-page)

Your Echo by Katia Rose

How do you teach a rock star how to meditate? The number one question on Stéphanie’s mind sounds like the start of a bad joke, and life would be a whole lot easier if she actually knew the punch line. Her meditation coach job description said nothing about private lessons for the most infamous lead singer in Montreal, but somehow Stéphanie still finds herself sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat, right next to a pierced and tattooed music legend who’d rather be anywhere else. Meditation classes are Ace’s final chance to convince his record label that… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement & child abuse mentioned
  • Alcoholism & alcohol abuse
  • Drug use mentioned (cannabis)
  • Serious, life-altering injury of a parent recounted

Your Rhythm by Katia Rose

You know what they say: save a snare, bang a drummer. Kay Fischer is well aware of what they say, and she intends to ignore it completely. After her first step into the world of music journalism ended with a screw-up so royal it deserved a crown, Kay’s been struggling to re-stack the building blocks of her career. Salvation comes in the form of Sherbrooke Station, the latest alt-rock craze to grace Montreal’s legendary music scene. A front page feature on the band everyone’s talking about seems like a foolproof shot at success, even after Kay meets their drummer. Matt Pearson might have a smile sexy enough to be the eighth deadly sin… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol abuse mentioned
  • Death of a grandmother mentioned

Your Sound by Katia Rose

Molly Myers is just your average groupie next door. Literally. The rock star whose posters cover her bedroom wall is banging her roommate right on the other side of it. Even for Molly, reigning queen of embarrassing moments, the situation is epically awkward. Every thump of the headboard is just one more reminder that the lead singers of famous bands don’t date bumbling shy girls too anxious to leave their own rooms. JP Bouchard-Guindon wasn’t looking for Molly’s room when he accidentally burst through the door, but the wild-haired girl lying there in her underwear was certainly worth the detour… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Anxiety

You Lucky Dog by Julia London

Carly Kennedy’s life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly’s sister convinces her to foster Baxter–a basset hound rescue with a bad case of the blues. When Carly comes home late from work one day to discover that the dog walker has accidentally switched out Baxter for another perkier, friendlier basset hound, she has reached the end of her leash. When Max Sheffington finds a depressed male basset hound in place of his cheerful Hazel, he is bewildered. But when cute, fiery Carly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Cyberbullying

You Say It First by Katie Cotugno

Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: her boyfriend Mason is sweet and supportive, she and her best friend Emily plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she even finds time to clock shifts phone banking at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio, who gets under her skin from the moment he picks up the phone. Colby is stuck in a rut, reeling from a family tragedy and working a dead-end… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Anxiety
  • Death of a father from suicide by hanging recounted