Hiss and Tell by Alana Khan

When calming magic meets single-mom mayhem, storytime turns sizzling.

ASPEN:
When my deadbeat ex disappoints my four-year-old again, I lose my mind at library storytime. Apparently, yelling “are you f*cking kidding me?” when daddies don’t show up isn’t considered appropriate language.
Now my son is banned from his favorite place, and I’m desperate enough to fake-date the shy, snake-haired librarian with the gentle smile and the massive forearms.
Sebastian’s hands turn me into liquid heat. His snakes flirt better than most men I’ve dated, but it’s the way he touches me—like I’m already his—that really undoes me.
The more time we spend together, the harder it is to remember this is pretend… especially when his healing magic might offer a cure I never dared hope for.
Maybe pretending isn’t enough anymore.

SEBASTIAN:
She crashes into my quiet world and suddenly, safe feels overrated. Aspen’s chaos rewrites every rule I’ve lived by. My snakes react to her like she’s the missing piece of my soul, and every instinct screams at me to claim what’s mine.
She doesn’t flinch at my snakes, my magic, or the emotional minefields I keep buried beneath stacks of books. Instead, she sees me. Not the Gorgon. Not the librarian. Me.
Now I’m bringing storybooks to life at her son’s bedtime, fantasizing about healing her in every possible way, and wishing our fake relationship wasn’t so heartbreakingly pretend.

One fake date. One magical cure. Infinite ways to burn.