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- This isn’t how love is supposed to start 🖤🩸
This isn’t how love is supposed to start 🖤🩸
Some nights start with whiskey. Others with sacrifice.
Parneet Gosal
June 07, 2025
“He hadn’t asked for my name. Not even my number. Just left me buzzing from whiskey on my doorstep. I watched him walk down the street, jingling the change in his pocket. He faded into the darkness between the streetlamps, and then I went inside.”
Dirty is a smart, biting, lyrical romance that’s so full of yearning it might crack you open a little (like it did me). A female MC who reads The Little Prince and likes men who drink whisky is alright in my book.
Then there’s Sacrifice: a surprisingly tender romance for a story that starts with a girl delivered like a gift. What she finds instead is a man who’s sworn off power, women, and emotion. Can a love born from obligation still be true? (Yes. Yes, it can.)
Love comes in strange packaging. These two stories unwrap it beautifully.
With love,
Parneet
Co-founder, Theo Reads
P.S. Can you tell I’m missing my husband? It’s hard not being with your person :)
 | Sacrifice By Cecilia Tan (🌶️🌶️🌶️ Romantasy) A demigod bound by an ancient pact struggles with his duty and desire. When the village patriarch delivers a beautiful, unconscious virgin for sacrifice, the demigod must confront his past and the power he wields. As the woman awakens, she grapples with her own fate and the mysterious man who now cares for her. |
 Theo Exclusive | Bozeman Blackout By Jess Averill (🌶️ Wild West, Small Town, Lesbian) When Sasha crosses the wrong bloodline on Montana land, she sparks a feud that’s older (and more dangerous) than she knows. Rowan Ballydorn wants payback. Beth… wants something else. In the midst of fury and fire, Sasha finds herself drawn to the one person she never saw coming. |
 | Catching Your Breath By Shannyn Shroeder (🌶️🌶️🌶️ Best Friend’s Sibling, Contemporary Romance) As kids, they steered clear of each other. But they aren't kids anymore... Reporter Moira O'Leary is a professional extrovert—a social butterfly who can blend into any crowd. So, seeing her childhood crush again (all grown-up, grumpy, and unreasonably sexy) shouldn't rattle her. But it does. He does. And for some reason, he always has… Undercover cop Jimmy O'Malley knows his best friend's little sister is off-limits. Forbidden. But the longer she helps him with his current case, the harder it is to stay away. |
 | Dirty By Megan Hart (🌶️🌶️🌶️) “I wanted him the first time we met. The problem with desire is that it’s like pouring water into a vase full of stones. It fills you up before you know it, leaving no room for anything else. I don’t have room in my life for him. But I can’t stop wanting him.” |
 | Firefighter’s Fateful Encounter By Danika Bloom (🌶️🌶️ Small Town, Enemies to Lovers) In the quaint town of Lily Valley, Sophie faces an unexpected blow when she's passed over for the chief position she believed was hers. Enter Nick, a charismatic city firefighter with a complicated past, who finds himself inexplicably drawn to Sophie's fiery spirit. As they navigate the complexities of their new roles and the undeniable chemistry between them, Nick must grapple with a secret that threatens to shatter their budding connection. |