Title - House of Payne: Styx
Author: Stacy Gail
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, Urban Romance, Alpha Male Romance, Sassy Heroine Romance
Release Date: September 19, 2019
Sydney used to make plans. All her life she’d trained to be a ballerina, but that “plan” had turned out to be nothing more than a pipe dream. Reality now consisted of hunting down petty thieves and refusing to make any more pie-in-the-sky plans for her life. That’s why she’s never approached the sexiest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Never again would she be crushed by pointless dreams.
Fate, however, has plans for her.
Styx Hardwick isn’t big on plans. As a tattooist at House Of Payne, he’s the black sheep in a family full of pragmatic cops. Now that his twin brother’s getting hitched, all eyes turn to him, the last of the single Hardwick siblings. Getting through his twin’s wedding is gonna be hell.
Or so he thinks.
When a pocket-sized goddess crashes into him with terror in her eyes, Styx’s world turns upside-down. Even scared out of her mind, Sydney is still the hottest thing to have ever graced his life. He offers her a deal—pretend to be his girlfriend until the wedding, while he does his damnedest to protect her from the danger closing in.
As a plan, it’s almost foolproof.
Almost.
97,000 words
***This standalone contemporary romance contains mild violence, a dash of instalove, and multiple sex scenes in lots of fun and possibly gravity-defying positions. No cheating, no love triangles, no cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed. Due to adult language and sexual content, this book is not intended for people under the age of eighteen***
Fun Size. Gahhhh!! I freaking LOVED this book!!! Styx...be still my heart :-) Such an amazing character and the total package we all swoon over. 100% alpha with a heart of gold. What was supposed to be "pretend", turned out to be insta love and I insta loved it from the get go. The immediate connection these 2 strangers had was off the charts perfection. Styx grew up with loving parents and siblings. Syd grew up with demanding parents who failed to get the memo on how to treat their own flesh and blood. Syd powered through the pain of not having the family love she craved, and made herself into a strong, self sufficient woman. Styx knew the minute the little terrified spitfire of a woman clinging to him as if her life depended on it, was the one woman that would bring him to his knees. Sydney never imagined that the man who starred in all of her fantasies, the one she watched from behind the grocery store shelves, her knight in shining ink, would be the one to save her from a fate neither of them could have ever dreamed of. Watching this couple grow and fall deeper in love was exactly what I was looking for when I stepped back into the House of Payne series. This series is full of alpha males, strong females, humor, danger, and so much love that you feel like you really need to be there in the shop watching it all unfold. 5 STARS ***** Tasha XO
A competitive figure skater from the age of eight, Stacy Gail began writing stories in between events to pass the time. By fourteen, she told her parents she was either going to be a figure skating coach who was also a published romance author, or a romance author who was also a figure skating pro. Now, with a day job of playing on the ice with her students, and writing everything from steampunk to cyberpunk, contemporary to paranormal at night, both dreams have come true.