Hey y’all…it’s Friday!! Whoop whoop! Another new month is here, can you flippin’ believe it?!? But a new month = new Friday Faves theme! And this month will be awesome because I’m going to highlight some of the strongest, sexiest, fiestyist WOMEN in contemporary romance! Can you say GIRL POWER!?!?

TRUE STORY: yesterday as I was perusing my emails, I happened to come across this newsletter. Now I’ll admit that I don’t read every single word of every single email I get…I’d be there all day if I did. But I just happened to open the newsletter from author Lisa Hughey and this is what I found:

We Read Strong Women

“Some author friends and I started a Facebook group for readers who want to read and discuss strong women heroines. We write in a variety of genres but all our heroines have one thing in common. Come check us out!! <3″

A FB group dedicated to strong heroines? I’m in!😍

But what constitutes a “strong heroine” ? Yes, there’s the women who are physically strong and I love that, no doubt, but what I’m really talking about are those ladies that are MENTALLY strong! Women who are cunning, smart, maybe someone who’s had a tough past but who kept on LIVING in spite of that past. I realize that there’s a ton of “strong” women in the fantasy/paranormal world (i.e. The Hunger Games series) but I don’t read too much in that genre ( I know, I’m a wackadoodle!) so I’ll stick to what I know…

Ok, here’s my top five!

Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy Book 1) Kindle Edition by J.R. Ward

The legacy of the Black Dagger Brotherhood continues in this gripping spin-off series from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward.

Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated–and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

The Gathering: The Ivy Blackwood Chronicles Kindle Edition by L.A. Fiore

Words like unnatural and impure started the whispers.

From the very beginning, Ivy Blackwood was different. She was only a child when she was accused of setting the fire, one she passively watched engulf the small house she had called home. Her fingertips burned and her hair singed. Some who watched her crossed themselves, convinced she was soulless for she showed no emotion at all. Calm and dispassionate, even when the screaming started that quickly turned to bellows of agony before dying into nothing but the roaring of the fire.

She was locked away where she couldn’t bring harm to herself or others. To all involved, they had protected the world from a monster, but sometimes things are not what they seem.

Due to language and adult situations, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Murder Notes (Lilah Love Book 1) Kindle Edition by Lisa Renee Jones

A heart-pounding thriller about a woman’s secrets—and a past that’s about to come out of hiding—from New York Timesbestselling author Lisa Renee Jones.

As an FBI profiler, it’s Lilah Love’s job to think like a killer. And she is very good at her job. When a series of murders surface—the victims all stripped naked and shot in the head—Lilah’s instincts tell her it’s the work of an assassin, not a serial killer. But when the case takes her back to her hometown in the Hamptons and a mysterious but unmistakable connection to her own life, all her assumptions are shaken to the core.

Thrust into a troubled past she’s tried to shut the door on, Lilah’s back in the town where her father is mayor, her brother is police chief, and she has an intimate history with the local crime lord’s son, Kane Mendez. The two share a devastating secret, and only Kane understands Lilah’s own darkest impulses. As more corpses surface, so does a series of anonymous notes to Lilah, threatening to expose her. Is the killer someone in her own circle? And is she the next target?

All the Rage Kindle Edition by T.M. Frazier

Who needs Hope when you can have Rage…

I’m a girl. I’m nineteen.
And I’m a killer.
This life is all I know. It’s all I want to know.
Until him.
It all changes when an ordinary boy becomes my next target.
And my first love.
I have to choose.
The only life I’ve ever known has to die, or he does.
Either way, I’ll be the one pulling the trigger…

This book is a STANDALONE.
Rage appears in Lawless and Soulless of the King Series but those books DO NOT have to be read to enjoy All the Rage.
The Kindle book also includes a preview of Up In Smoke.

Long Shot: A HOOPS Novel Kindle Edition by Kennedy Ryan

A FORBIDDEN LOVE SET IN THE EXPLOSIVE WORLD OF THE NBA…

Think you know what it’s like being a baller’s girl?
You don’t.
My fairy tale is upside down.
A happily never after.
I kissed the prince and he turned into a fraud.
I was a fool, and his love – fool’s gold.
Now there’s a new player in the game, August West.
One of the NBA’s brightest stars.
Fine. Forbidden.
He wants me. I want him.
But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won’t let me go

*Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for some readers.

What are some of your favorite strong heroine romances? I’m always looking for good recommendations so let me know in the comments! Have a GREAT day y’all!