Where love melts the ice and dreams come to fruition. Welcome to the Carolina Fury, where passion thaws even the most frozen hearts.
Brooklynn Greene has it all—a successful salon, a close-knit group of girlfriends, and a life she loves. But there’s one thing she can’t seem to get out of her mind–her irresistibly charming neighbor.
She can’t have him. He’s a dream. No, he’s the dream.
Her neighbor is off-limits. At least, that’s the way that she sees it, and she’s tried to keep him at arm’s length. But he needs her help. And it wouldn’t be neighborly to deny him.
Even if it means playing his fake girlfriend.
Forrest Westwood doesn’t worry. He lives his life the way that he wants, knowing that money is no object. The day he turns twenty-five, his trust fund is his. Life is going to be a comfortable one once his checks start coming in.
He plays by his own rules. She’s everywhere. Across the street, in the stands, and his dreams.
Life has a way of becoming complicated. The confident and independent woman is right in front of him. But can a fake relationship between them stay that way, or will the lines between pretend and reality blur as they play the most dangerous game of all—falling in love?
A bad play shouldn’t cause a media meltdown but I’m Kyle Bosco and I’m a competitive jerk. So of course I couldn’t just shut up.
Now I must atone for my comments. Somehow that includes working at a daycare with seven year old Piper who thinks I’m her best friend. But Piper is not the one who has me tied up in knots. That job is reserved for Harper Wallace- her mother.
Harper is fierce, combative, and an irresistibly gorgeous single mom.
If hating me were a sport, she’d be MVP. For reasons I can’t tell you, she’s completely off limits so I obviously should stay away.
But hear me out?
I’m a competitive jerk. I’m not the guy that rides the bench. I’d rather go down swinging and foul out than not play at all.
L.B. Dunbar loves sexy silver foxes, second chances, and small towns. If you enjoy older characters in your romance reads, including a hero with a little silver in his scruff and a heroine rediscovering her worth, then welcome to romance for those over 40. L.B. Dunbar’s signature works include women and men in their prime taking another turn at love and happily ever after. She’s a USA TODAY Bestseller as well as #1 Bestseller on Amazon in Later in Life Romance with her Lakeside Cottage and Road Trips & Romance series. L.B. lives in Chicago with her own sexy silver fox.
To get all the scoop about the self-proclaimed queen of silver fox romance, join her on Facebook at Loving L.B. or receive her monthly newsletter, Love Notes.
Meeting Ross Davis, professional baseball coach and my sports crush, is a funny story involving a stalled elevator, the potty dance, and an attempt to get into his hotel suite. In my defense, that last one was an accident.
He came to my room instead with a bottle of scotch and a sad soul.
My one night was not a stand, but more like a lie-in. As in, we snuggled and talked and not another thing happened.
So, nothing surprises me more than seeing him again when he becomes the manager of the Chicago Anchors, my hometown pro-team, and our paths intersect once more.
It’s here the story gets fuzzy, because Ross Davis, that sexy silver fox, has a proposal for me.
Baseball players are notoriously superstitious, and Ross is somehow convinced I’m his good luck charm. One who brings him success by sleeping with him.
Only sleeping.
The problem with this arrangement begins when those funny, fuzzy things called feelings get involved. Eventually, his elevator pitch is no longer an easy walk in the ballpark or a simple sleepover in his bed.
And I’m worried I’ll be the one left in the outfield when the season ends.
+ + +
From L.B. Dunbar comes an all-new sports romance with baseball at its heart and the sexy silver fox coaching staff as the focus of the fans.
Stacy Travis writes spicy small-town romance about bookish, sassy women and the hot heroes who fall for them.
Writing makes her infinitely happy, but that might be the coffee talking.
She’s worked as a journalist, camp counselor, TV writer, SAT tutor, corporate finance researcher, education technology editor, and non-fiction author. When she’s not on a deadline, she’s in running shoes complaining that all roads seem to go uphill. Or on the couch with a margarita. Or fangirling at a soccer game.
She’s never met a dog she didn’t want to hug. And if you have no plans for Thanksgiving, she’ll probably invite you to dinner.
Stacy lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a poorly-trained rescue dog who hoards socks. And she’s serious about the Thanksgiving thing.
As a single father, I often feel like the weight of the world sits on my shoulders. When my daughter’s nanny gives me her two weeks’ notice, I’m sweating bullets. Fear that my NHL season with the New England Bay Sharks could be derailed consumes me.
Finding a replacement seems impossible when, suddenly, Maci McKenzie—a struggling author who’s running from some deep, dark secret in her past—steps into the picture. She needs a change of scenery to help her write, and I just need someone who isn’t a complete weirdo to watch my kid when I’m not around.
As we grow closer, I learn she’s struggling to write the so-called “spicy” scenes. And, well, me being the nice fella I am, I offer my assistance and show her how a real man should treat a woman in between the sheets. It’s the perfect deal really. I get off, and she gets the inspiration she needs to write a book.
And not just any book … a hockey romance book.
But like all deals, it’s not black-and-white. Soon, I find myself falling in love with the woman. But the closer I get to her … the further she pulls away. Then, I finally find out what’s haunting her from her past.
Whoever says the truth will set you free has never heard a secret like this one.
“Why would you even want to do this?” she asks without looking at me.
“Nostalgia.” I’d rehearsed this answer, knowing she was bound to ask.
She lets out a huff, and her eyes flick over me, then dart back to the door.
“You’ve never been nostalgic in your life. It was always forward movement with you.
Always what was next week, next year, next century. Now, suddenly, you like long walks down memory lane?”
“Yes, but it’s also my home of record for the authorities, and I don’t feel like refiling paperwork right now. F*ckin’ hate bureaucracy.” It’s not a lie, just not the whole truth. She tilts her head as if acknowledging that she can understand that much about my predicament.
“I can give you a room in the inn,” she bargains, turning back to me with a hopeful look.
“Nah. I don’t want to be up at the crack of dawn because your ladies are headed out on one of their daily adventures. I want my house. My bed.”
“Fine. Then I’ll move into the inn while you play house. It’ll keep me closer to everything.”
“It’s all or nothing.” I press my luck, and now I have her attention. Her eyes search my
face, and they harden.
“You’d do that? Try to take the ranch and inn away from me? When you never wanted them in the first place?”
“I told you. I’ve had a lot of time to think over the last few months. Reflecting on what I might have done differently if I’d been in a different place.” I offer her a crumb of honesty, but somehow that uneasy admission makes her angrier.
“You get nostalgic and want a do-over, so you just get to crash in here and take everything I’ve spent years working on? All because things got a little rough out there, and now you think you can come home to hide. Pretend you can put it all back like nothing happened. Fuck the rest of us, right?”
I bite my tongue to keep from responding. It took two of us to get where we did when things fell apart. She was every bit as stubborn as I was when it came down to it. But I’m making a big ask right now, and I know it. I deserve some part of this lashing, even if she doesn’t need to be quite so heavy-handed.
“I want a place to stay out of view, serve out the rest of this parole, and have some sense of stability while I figure out what’s next. I’m offering you all of it and a million dollars for the inconvenience. Ninety days and you get it all for the rest of your life. That’s like winning the lotto compared to what I could do.”
“And you f*ck off forever after? I don’t ever have to hear from you or see you again? Your lawyer isn’t going to show up someday pointing to some loophole where you take it all back?” Her arms tighten around her middle.
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is what I want. I don’t even want to be standing here having this conversation with you now. If it were up to me, you’d fuck off immediately and stay f*cked off.”
I bite my tongue to keep myself from pouring gasoline on this fire.
“Yes. I f*ck off forever after. No loopholes.”
“I want it in writing. Tell your fancy f*cking lawyer I want everything in black and white. And I want you to sign it in blood. Anything less and I won’t do it.”
The average person would probably be terrified of her temper, but I love seeing it flare again. Anger means she’s still invested enough to feel something for me. Apathy is the real danger. Right now, I still have a shot to fix this. It might be one deep down in the bowels of hell, with rapidly dropping temperatures and the smell of snow, but I’ll take it.
“Is that a yes then?” I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep the smirk off my face.
“No.” She practically hisses the word. “I have to think. Talk to Curtis. Make sure my lawyer can’t get me out of this first.”
“Your lawyer?”
“I have one.” Her eyes narrow and sweep over me before she looks away again. “Not to mention I’m still hoping this is a nightmare I’m going to wake up from any minute now.”
“Afraid not, sugar.”
She flicks me another look before she turns to leave the stables.
“One last thing…” I call after her, and she pauses but doesn’t turn around to look at me.
“I just want to be clear. When I say I want my bed back, I mean with you in it.”
I see her bristle, and she flips me the bird over her shoulder before storming out. I turn back to Wolfsbane and run my hand over his neck.
“You notice she didn’t say no,” I mutter under my breath, smiling as I hear the door to the stables slam shut in her wake.
Blurb:
Still married.
Those words change everything.
Now my should-be ex-husband, Ramsey Stockton, the former pro football star turned felon and hero who left this town—and me—behind years ago, is at my door offering me a deal with the devil.
If I let him stay and play his wife again for ninety days, he’ll give me a quiet divorce and his family ranch—the one my inn is on.
When I scoff at the idea, he offers a million-dollar bonus to help my business float through this rough patch, but only if I’m his.
Then he’ll walk away, and I can walk down the aisle with my fiancé. Or I can say no and watch everything I’ve worked so hard for fall apart.
There’s only one answer I can afford to give him. But he knows everything about me—every hurt, every secret, and every single weakness I have, including him.
And while Ramsey might want me, his brothers want him back in the family business.
If there’s one universal truth in this town, it’s that Stockton men stop at nothing to get what they want.
All’s fair in love and war, or so they say. Sometimes you have to play dirty to win.
Kevlar
Never thought of myself wanting one woman. But there she is, and she’s unlike any other. I had her in my bed once, but then I screwed up. She’s stubborn and refuses to listen to reason.
She’s also a fighter.
When things happen and I find she’s not exactly who she claims to be, I have to make things right before it’s too late. Even if it means getting down and dirty to do it.
I’ve no problem getting bloody if it means she survives what’s to come.
My Princess is determined to stay as far away from me as possible. Eighteen months ago, she wanted me, but now she’s convinced I’m bad news.
The thing is, an attraction like ours doesn’t just fade, and my need for her has only grown stronger no matter how many times she offers me a scowl instead of her beautiful smile.
We’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse since the day she wore my jersey, and fortunately for her, I love the chase. I love to watch the way her body reacts to mine. I’d fall to my knees in front of her if I didn’t think she’d kick me while I’m down and unearth painful memories from my past that I’ve worked to keep hidden for so long.
I’m not the only one with secrets and a hurtful past, though. The walls she’s built around her are so high that I doubt anyone can see the real Kate. But I can; I see it all. I know what makes my girl tick and what she truly wants from life. I was just waiting for a chance to prove it.
And now that it’s here, I’m going all in to make Kate Violet Monroe fall in love with me.
Since I lost my wife, my life has consisted of being a single dad to two crazy kids and playing professional football, leaving me with no room for anything or anyone else.
Until the moment I met Sawyer.
Something about her feels right, and I know it’s more than just chemistry.
She’s a game changer. My second chance at love.
I want all of her days, her nights, and everything in between. But our time together is limited, and come Saturday, she’s going to leave, taking my heart right along with her.
Sawyer
I wasn’t looking for love, but that didn’t stop it from finding me. All it took was six days to fall head over heels for a complete stranger and his adorable children. Nothing has ever felt so right.
But as a single mom, it’s not just about what I want.
We live over a thousand miles apart, and I know all too well that long-distance love always ends in heartache.
Hudson’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a man, and I know it would be easy to create a life with him and our kids.
Which is why it’s going to be so hard to say goodbye.
In this fun, sexy college romance, a transfer student finds herself living in a house full of football players—and falling for the one she knows she shouldn’t want.
Everleigh
Transferring to UC Santa Mira is supposed to be my ultimate college experience—until housing falls through at the last minute. So when I overhear a group of guys complaining they need another roommate, I jump at the opportunity.
They’re just football players. Even if one of them makes me weak in the knees, it doesn’t mean anything unless I let it. And I won’t.
We want different things. Wanting each other doesn’t change that.
Nico
It’s my senior year and final season with the Santa Mira Dolphins. The last thing I need is a distraction, but that’s exactly what this girl is. Ever is too leggy, too gorgeous, too thoughtful—and a whole lot of too much that gets under my skin.
I guess I get under hers too. I can’t help myself.
We live together. That alone makes it a bad idea…but I never could resist a little trouble.
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Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance.
A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, son, their goofy dog, and three cats. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. Or reading. Or binge watching something.
Everleigh was looking forward to her college experience however she did not get off to the best start when she finds out she has no accommodation and limited financial means to secure another arrangement. Her luck changes when she learns that three football players need a roommate, and they are willing to adjust the rent is she agrees to handle the household responsibilities. The only problem with the arrangement is her attraction to one of the roommates.
Nico is aware of his skill both on the field and when it comes to women. He is attracted to Everleigh as well however he keeps all his interactions with women casual and commitment free which would be difficult with them together. It is only a matter of time before the chemistry between them ignites but will she be his forever or just a fling?
There is a lot of should we or shouldn’t we which increases the tension between Everleigh and Nico until they realize that what they share is special even though it wasn’t easy at times. There is also a great cast of secondary characters that enhance the story and leave you wanting their stories as well.
Aria Todd is the new girl in town. She doesn’t mind the title. In fact, she’s thrilled that she’ll have the chance to start over in a place where nobody knows her. Where nobody can get to her. And where her new neighbor has her peeking out her window regularly.
Paxton Fields is Steel Ridge’s resident nice guy. He’s kind to everyone, even the injured and abandoned animals he rescues on occasion.
That’s why he catches Aria’s eye, and the pair explore the chemistry between them.
But Paxton’s big heart is just a small part of who he is. When it’s necessary to be foreboding, he rises to the occasion.
And that’s precisely what happens when he learns that there was a reason for Aria’s recent move to his town. Discovering she’s been coerced from her home, Paxton’s protective instincts kick in.
Escaping her past was her plan, but if Paxton can’t find her, Aria may never get to see her future.
A.K. Evans is a contemporary romance author of over forty published novels. While she enjoys writing a good romantic suspense novel, Andrea’s favorite books to write have been her extreme sports romances. That might have something to do with the fact that she, along with her husband and two sons, can’t get enough of extreme sports.
Before becoming a writer, Andrea did a brief stint in the insurance and financial services industry and managed her husband’s performance automotive business. That love of extreme sports? She used to drive race cars!
When Andrea isn’t writing, she can be found homeschooling her two sons, doing yoga, snowboarding, reading, or traveling with her family. She and her husband are currently taking road trips throughout the country to visit all 50 states with their boys.
Aria has always been there for her family however it has taken its toll on her relationship with them and herself. Needing to distance her she has moved to Steel Ridge and Paxton happens to be her neighbor. She is drawn to him, but she is afraid that if he knew her past he would feel differently about her however her past isn’t far behind.
Paxton works for Harper Security and is a protector at heart when it comes to his job as well as those he cares about. He feels an immediate connection for Aria, and it isn’t long before she becomes an important part of his life and he will do whatever is required to keep her safe.
This is a heartwarming romance that has a little suspense to keep things interesting. It also allows us to catch up with the other characters we know and love from this series.
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