Contemporary Romance
by Michelle M. Pillow

What is contemporary romance as a genre?

Contemporary romance is the genre lane for love stories set in the present day, in our world, with no paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, or historical framing. The conflict comes from real-world stakes (jobs, families, social pressure, geography, money) and the resolution turns on the couple choosing each other. Heat level varies wildly by author and line, from sweet closed-door to scorching open-door. The genre dominates print and eBook bestseller lists year after year because the everyday setting lets readers walk straight into the chemistry without world-building rules to learn.

What does scorching or open-door contemporary romance mean?

Scorching is the top of Michelle’s heat ladder. Open-door means the love scenes happen on the page, not behind a closed door, with explicit physical detail. The Matthews Sisters series and the two Cheek imprint standalones land at this top-tier heat because they were originally published under Random House’s Cheek imprint, a line built specifically around sex-positive, banter-driven, scorching contemporary romance. Readers comfortable with Tessa Bailey, Vi Keeland, or Lauren Asher heat will be at home here.

Does Michelle M. Pillow write contemporary romance?

Yes. Michelle’s contemporary romance catalog runs through her Random House Cheek imprint backlist: the four-book Matthews Sisters series plus two connected Cheek imprint standalones, Fierce Competition and Opposites Attract. Six titles total, all originally published under the Random House Virgin Books Cheek line, all reissued in eBook through the Ebury / Rouge imprint. Michelle’s other series live in different genre lanes (paranormal romance, sci-fi romance, paranormal romantic comedy, paranormal women’s fiction, cozy mystery) and are not contemporary romance.

What was the Cheek imprint, and why does it matter for these six books?

Cheek was the Random House Virgin Books contemporary romance line built around sex-positive, banter-driven, scorching contemporary romance with smart heroines and explicit on-page heat. Michelle’s six Cheek titles share that house voice top to bottom, which makes them read as a unified collection even though four belong to the Matthews Sisters series and two are standalones. The Cheek backlist is currently in eBook through the Ebury / Rouge imprint.

What is the Matthews Sisters series about?

Four sisters, four scorching contemporary romantic comedies, four happily ever afters. Kat, the free-spirited eldest, gets paid by an eccentric rich couple to fake-date their nerdy scientist son, then catches real feelings under the lab coat. Detective Megan, an NYC homicide cop tired of arresting Mr. Wrong, gets blackmailed into marriage by the crime-scene photographer who has been crushing on her for years. Zoe, an aspiring chef with no career left to save, takes a head-chef job that turns out to be a small-town diner run by a restaurant mogul looking for revenge. Sasha, a college student certain she has met Mr. Right, learns the hard way that Mr. Perfect-on-paper is not the same as the man who actually shows up.

Who are the heroes opposite each Matthews sister?

Dr. Victor Richmond, a brilliant scientist who does not make time for women until Kat is paid to make him, in Bit by the Bug. Ryan Andrews, the crime-scene photographer who blackmails Detective Megan into marriage when nothing else gets her attention, in Along for the Ride. Jackson Levy, the restaurant mogul who hires Zoe with revenge on his mind and falls hard before the appetizers land, in Recipe for Disaster (eBook title Her New Boss). Kevin Merchant, the working-class lab partner who is exactly the man Sasha did not know she needed, in Degrees of Passion.

What standalone Cheek imprint titles round out this landing?

Two titles share the page with the four Matthews Sisters books because they were published under the same Random House Cheek imprint in the same era, by the same author, in the same scorching contemporary romcom voice. Fierce Competition pits society player Jane Williams against the rival who exposes her most humiliating secret, with senator’s-son boyfriend Dean caught in the crossfire. Opposites Attract throws bankrupt socialite Alexis into a 1965 Lincoln Continental for a cross-country road trip from New York to San Francisco with tattooed bad-boy Ethan, and lets the chemistry detonate at every gas station between Manhattan and the Pacific.

What is the reading order, and do the books stand alone?

Each of the six titles delivers a complete couple resolution and a closed plot, so any reader can start anywhere. The Matthews Sisters series rewards publication-order readers with sister cameos and shared family moments, but it is not required. Matthews Sisters reading order: 1) Bit by the Bug; 2) Along for the Ride; 3) Recipe for Disaster (eBook title Her New Boss); 4) Degrees of Passion. Cheek imprint standalones, readable in any order before or after the series: Fierce Competition; Opposites Attract.

Is the Matthews Sisters series complete or ongoing?

Complete. Four Matthews-sister books plus two connected Cheek imprint standalones, all published, no cliffhangers, every couple resolved by the final page. Degrees of Passion closes the four-sister arc with a feel-good HEA.

What contemporary romance tropes anchor these six books?

The Cheek line ran on a tight tropes shortlist: grumpy and sunshine, opposites attract, fake relationship, blackmail romance, boss and employee, workplace tension, forced proximity, social rivals, road trip, big family energy, and witty back-and-forth dialogue. Across the six books, readers also get a scientist hero, a crime-scene photographer hero, a restaurant mogul hero, a working-class college lab partner, a senator’s son, a tattooed bad boy, foodie romance, society scandal, riches-to-rags, new adult crossover, and the kind of sister-banter that carries every Matthews scene.

What is the heat level across these six books?

Scorching across the board. Open-door love scenes, explicit on-page heat, sex-positive framing, and banter that runs hot before the bedroom door opens. Readers who like the heat dialed to the top of the contemporary romance ladder will be comfortable with every title in this collection.

How long are the books?

Cheek imprint trade paperback length. Each of the six runs roughly 256 to 272 print pages, with word counts in the high seventies thousand range for the Cheek standalones (Fierce Competition about 76,000 words, Opposites Attract about 78,000). Reader sessions land in the six-to-eight-hour range per title, which makes any of them a comfortable weekend read.

Are the Matthews Sisters books available on audiobook?

Not currently. Matthews Sisters and the two Cheek imprint standalones are available in eBook and paperback only. Readers looking for Michelle’s contemporary-set audio catalog will find it in her paranormal lines, particularly Warlocks MacGregor and Order of Magic, both narrated and available wide on audiobook.

Where can readers find these books?

Available wide. eBooks and paperbacks at Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Nook, Google Play, Bookshop, the Michelle Pillow Bookstore, Walmart, and Indigo. Library readers can request the eBook editions through their local library system. Availability varies title by title; the current edition list for each book is on its individual book page.

Where should contemporary romance readers go next in Michelle’s catalog?

Two of Michelle’s other series are contemporary-set but live in the paranormal lane. Warlocks MacGregor is paranormal romantic comedy set in small-town Wisconsin, with a clan of prankster Scottish warlocks, love-potion mishaps, and magical mayhem (Book 1 is Love Potions, a 2015 Virginia Romance Writers HOLT Medallion Award of Merit recipient). Order of Magic is paranormal women’s fiction set in the small town of Freewild Cove, with seasoned heroines, strong friendships, and second-chance magic for women rediscovering themselves in their next chapter (Book 1 is Second Chance Magic). Neither is straight contemporary romance by genre, but both deliver the modern-day, real-world setting contemporary readers expect, with a paranormal twist.