Make-Believe Marriage


Marilyn Shank - 2000
    Otherwise, she'll lose her inheritance. Trevor Mathison, Headmaster of Brookshire School, needs both a sixth-grade teacher and a wife.When a comedy of errors leads Claire's grandfather, the Chairman of the Board, to believe Claire and Trevor are married, they play along - both too afraid to tell the older man the truth.A powerful magnetism sparks between the couple but her free-spirited lifestyle clashes with his highly structured one. The conflicts they face both at school and at home turn Trevor's organized life into instant chaos.Can Claire and Trevor make their love last? Will they turn this pretend marriage into happily ever after?

An Old Love's Shadow


Abby Gray - 1999
    She’s on a charitable mission, by damn, and that rowdy cantina next door is drowning out her gospel singing. The clash with the sexy-as-hell man who runs the cantina hits with enough force to burn down the small Mexican town. What happens in Mexico… Is supposed to stay in Mexico but Hunter can’t get that blonde with the ice blue eyes out of his mind when he goes home to Texas. Finding her isn’t the problem. Convincing her that he’s interested—well, that’s another story. Mercy tried to get over Hunter, especially when she found out about his past. She had two choices: move on or give him one more chance because no other man should have to live in an old love’s shadow. If you liked Carolyn Brown’s books, Love Is, Trouble in Paradise, The Wager or The Yard Rose, you will love An Old Love’s Shadow.

Both Sides of Love


Kimberly Wenzler - 2014
    Every day, Beth Butler is reminded of the accident that left her emotionally and physically scarred. Uncomfortable in public, she devotes her time and energy to caring for her husband and child. To help her out of her isolation, her husband convinces Beth to attend a meeting at their daughter’s school.Secluded at the back of the room, Beth is surprised when gorgeous and outgoing Noreen White extends a hand in friendship. The two form a close bond and Beth starts to feel a sense of happiness and solace long missing from her life. As their relationship blossoms, Beth comes face to face with her past and is torn between maintaining her secret or confiding a truth that could tear both her friendship and family apart.Both Sides of Love explores the power of true friendship, the beauty of true love, and one woman’s struggle to choose. Candid, humorous at times, and full of surprises, it is a must-read for anyone who has ever loved, lost, and loved again.

The Geek Tycoon


Vicki Lewis Thompson - 2016
    But the one thing he doesn’t have is the love of his life. Charlotte Wingate’s been his friend since they were five and now she’s in charge of his HR department. Beautiful and popular, Charlotte always belonged with the cool crowd while Tony hung with the nerds. She’s out of his league, but even if he wanted to ask her out, she’s his employee and therefore off-limits. But when Charlotte suddenly makes it clear she doesn’t want to be off-limits, he has to decide whether to go all in, knowing he might lose everything.

Two From the Heart


James Patterson - 2017
    After her marriage falls apart and a hurricane destroys her home she realizes that her life has fallen out of focus. So she takes to the road to ask long lost friends and strangers a simple question: "What's your best story?" Can the funny, tragic, inspirational tales she hears on her journey help Anne see what she's been missing? Tyler Bron seemingly has it all-a successful company and more money than he knows how to spend. But he has no life. So he hires a struggling novelist to write one for him. There are no limits to the fictional world that Bron's money can transform into a reality, and he soon becomes the protagonist of a love story beyond his wildest imagination. But will Tyler Bron be able to write the happy ending himself?

Before I Knew Him


Anna Ralph - 2008
    But he doesn’t see much to look forward to. Leo doesn’t fit in. But nothing ever happens to Leo; he never has a story. Then he meets David. Moody, resentful and tough, David is everything Leo is not and an unlikely friendship soon grows between them.Events that summer take a dangerous and disturbing turn, and the results are devastating for both boys and their friendship. In the aftermath, traumatized, they pledge to keep their shared secret, never to meet again, and above all — to forget. But when the terrible truth re-emerges ten years later and forces David and Leo back together, everything and nothing has changed.

Catching Cassidy


Melissa Foster - 2015
    They're tough, edgy, and accepting--most of the time. Although Catching Cassidy is a heterosexual romance, this series will include heterosexual, gay, and lesbian themes, written in the loving, raw, and emotional voice readers have come to love by New York Times & USA Today bestselling, award-winning author Melissa Foster.In Catching Cassidy...Wyatt Armstrong never imagined that instead of celebrating his college graduation, he and his twin sister would be dealing with the death of their parents. Then again, Wyatt had never been one to think past tomorrow. He heads to their summer home in Harborside, Massachusetts, with his best friend Cassidy Lowell in tow, to spread his parents' ashes and to try to figure out his next step.Six foot two, infuriatingly handsome, and flirtatious, Wyatt Armstrong has always been there for Cassidy, helping her pass her classes and fend off unwanted advances, while driving her insane with his one-night stands--but that's what best friends are for, isn't it? Having each other's backs. There was never any doubt that she would accompany him to his family's summer home--even if her jealous boyfriend is giving her hell for it. But he doesn't have anything to be jealous of...or does he?It's impossible to ignore the sizzling heat between them as Wyatt and Cassidy get even closer, but Cassidy knows Wyatt's past, and she has a real job to begin in the fall. Wyatt may be a sure thing for the summer, but Cassidy needs more. For the first time in his life, Wyatt is forced to look toward the future if he doesn't want to lose the one woman who's shared his past and owns his heart.Coming in 2015 the full Harborside Nights series:Catching Cassidy (Het)Discovering Delilah (F/F)Tempting Tristan (M/M)Chasing Charley (Het)Breaking Brandon (M/M)Embracing Evan (Het)Reaching Rusty (Het)Loving Livi (Het)Characters from the Love in Bloom series will appear in the Harborside Nights books.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - A 30-minute Chapter-by-Chapter Summary


Instaread Summaries - 2013
    Robin Ellacott's long-term boyfriend, Matthew, proposes on her first day to work for Strike as temp secretary.

The Christmas Contract


Jan Romes - 2013
    While he's generous with his money, he also makes the community work for it. He's the same with his family. No free handouts. What he gives has strings attached. Dax decides it's time for his fiercely independent, almost-thirty year old granddaughters to settle down. He wants them to find love and give him great-grandchildren before his lights go out. And he knows how to make it happen. Prompted by love, guilt and a desire to own their own business, the Dawson triplets -- Joy, Noelle and Christi -- enter into a Christmas contract that will change their lives forever. Finding true love is a unique adventure, so each girl has their own story. The outcome for all three, however, funnels into one giant happily-ever-after.

Another Chance to Love You


Robin Lee Hatcher - 2006
    . . Sustained by her faith, Monica Fletcher finally had the courage to tell the only man she'd ever loved the secret that had burned in her heart for eleven years.The time had come to heal old wounds . . . When celebrity Daniel Rourke revisited Boise, Idaho, the local beauty who'd been his college girlfriend turned his world upside down with the revelation that he was a father!The time was now to start over . . . if they could. Could Daniel's hometown sweetheart and newfound daughter find a place in the fast-paced Chicago milieu that was now his world? Only time would tell if it was possible for him to reclaim the life they should have had—and the family he had belatedly come to cherish.

Greg Iles Collection: The Quiet Game, 24 Hours, Dead Sleep


Greg Iles - 2003
    As a Houston prosecutor he sent sixteen men to death row, and watched seven of them die. But now, in the aftermath of his wife's death, the grief-stricken father packs up his four-year-old daughter, Annie, and returns to his hometown in search of healing. But peace is not what he finds there.Natchez, Mississippi, is the jewel of the antebellum South, a city of old money and older sins, where passion, power, and racial tensions seethe beneath its elegant façade. After twenty years away, Penn is stunned to find his own family trapped in a web of intrigue and danger. Determined to save his father from a ruthless blackmailer, Penn stumbles over a link to the town's darkest secret: the thirty-year-old unsolved murder of a black Korean War veteran. But what drives him to act is the revelation that this haunting mystery is inextricably bound up in his own past.24 HoursRead by Dick Hill (Ruth Bloomquist, Russell Byers)24 Hours begins with the perfect family. On the perfect day. About to become trapped in the perfect crime. Will Jennings is a successful young doctor in Jackson, Mississippi, with his whole life ahead of him. He has a thriving practice, a beautiful wife, and a young daughter he loves beyond measure. But Will and his family are being watched by a con man and psychopath. A man who has crafted the unbeatable crime. A man who has never been caught, and whose victims have never talked to the police. A man whose life's work strikes at the heart of every family's nightmare: the unstoppable kidnapping. But this man has never met Will and Karen Jennings.Dead SleepRead by Susie Breck (Dick Hill)Jordan Glass, a photojournalist on a well-earned vacation, wanders into a Hong Kong art museum and is puzzled to find fellow patrons eying her with curiosity. Minutes later, she stumbles upon a gallery containing a one-artist exhibition called "The Sleeping Women," a mysterious series of paintings that has caused a sensation in the world of modern art. Collectors have come to believe that the canvases depict female nudes not in sleep but in death, and they command millions at auction. When Jordan approaches the last work in the series, she freezes. The face in the painting seems to be her own. This unsettling event hurls her back into a nightmare she has fought desperately to put behind her - for, in fact, the face in the painting belongs not to Jordan but to her twin sister, murdered one year ago. At the urging of the FBI, Jordan becomes both hunter and hunted in a duel with the anonymous artist, a gifted murderer who knows the secret history of Jordan's family, and truths that even she has never had the courage to face.

The Lost Island - Free Preview (first 11 chapters): A Gideon Crew Novel


Douglas Preston - 2014
    When his mysterious employer, Eli Glinn, gives him an eyebrow-raising mission, he has no reason to refuse. Gideon's task: steal a page from the priceless Book of Kells, now on display in New York City and protected by unbreakable security. Accomplishing the impossible, Gideon steals the parchment--only to learn that hidden beneath the gorgeously illuminated image is a treasure map dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks. As they ponder the strange map, they realize that the treasure it leads to is no ordinary fortune. It is something far more precious: an amazing discovery that could perhaps even save Gideon's life.Together with his new partner, Amy, Gideon follows a trail of cryptic clues to an unknown island in a remote corner of the Caribbean Sea. There, off the hostile and desolate Mosquito Coast, the pair realize the extraordinary treasure they are hunting conceals an even greater shock-a revelation so profound that it may benefit the entire human race . . . if Gideon and Amy can survive.

Blue Heron Series Books 1-3: The Best Man \ The Perfect Match \ Waiting on You


Kristan Higgins - 2015
    It's a place where romance is always in the air, full of first loves and second chances…and there's always a good vintage handy to help get over a broken heart.Jilted-at-the-altar Faith Holland swallows her pride and returns home to her family's Blue Heron Vineyard for a chance to start over, while her sister, Honor, finds herself in a marriage of convenience that might be turning into the real thing. Meantime, Colleen O'Rourke thinks she's safer sticking to matchmaking for her customers, but only until the man who got away comes looking for a drink at her bar.Collected here for the first time are the first three books in the Blue Heron series: The Best Man, The Perfect Match and Waiting On You. Be part of the magic from the very beginning!

And then He Kissed Her


Melinda Curtis - 2015
    Chef Sean O’Malley could use Nicole’s dessert skills at his restaurant in New York City. In fact, he’s banking on a joint venture with Nicole, although he hasn’t yet approached her about it. When he learns during a pre-wedding event they’re both working that she’s moving to L.A. because she’s giving up on Jake, he decides to give her a crash course on how to be noticed. Sean has, after all, three younger sisters. He knows how a woman’s mind works. But he doesn’t factor in how his heart works or how easily it could be broken. CHARMER by Brinda Berry, Reese McClain has a solid plan in place: finish raising her teenage niece, run her pie bakery, and avoid entanglements with a tempting man. After all, her sister deserted her own child for a freewheeling lifestyle. Life is much less complicated without dating. Especially dating a man like Cord Barton—a rock star who’s too gorgeous, too young, and too carefree.Cord knows his life needs change, but he doesn’t expect it in the form of a beautiful pie maker named Reese. She’s a much needed star in his burnt out life. Because when it comes to plans, he wants her for more than dessert. RIVERBEND by Ciara Knight, Amazon Bestselling AuthorFive years after the death of his wife, Dr. Mitchem Taylor is ready to share his life with someone. Only one thing stands in the way of giving love a second chance--the strictly enforced "no dating" rule. A rule that pierces his heart every time he thinks about his university assistant, Cynthia. When a handsome man shows interest in her, Mitchem must choose between love for his career or love for his beautiful assistant.Since the day she saw her boss, Mitchem, care for his son’s knee at a little league game, Cynthia Gold has been in love with him. Pining away over a love she can never have forces her to make a drastic change—a new job thousands of miles away. But can she walk away from her life she enjoys and a boy who’s like a son, or keep her heart bound to a man who may never love her.ALONG CAME YOU by Hildie McQueen, Amazon Bestselling AuthorOff to an awkward start, Gina Mills and Jake Weston attempt to ignore the attraction between them and stick to the business of selling his house. Unfortunately circumstances keep cropping up that make it difficult. When the past collides with the present, a surprising turn of events makes them rethink if they were meant to be after all.UPTOWN HEIRESS by Lindi Peterson:At an after-party for the reality series, Love Atlanta Style, hotel empire heiress Grace Adams has an epiphany. Love isn’t a game and neither is life. It’s time to find a job and prove she doesn’t need Daddy’s money.Waiter, Justin Walker, is biding his time working for the rich crowd who thinks they’re owed everything. But his service pays off when he meets the beautiful Grace Adams. He asks her out, oblivious to the fact that she’s a hotel heiress.When they find out they are competing for the same job, Grace and Justin try to maintain their budding friendship and romance, until Justin discovers the truth. Grace represents all he tries to avoid.

The Emily Giffin Collection: Volume One: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Love the One You're With


Emily Giffin - 2014
    Includes:SOMETHING BORROWEDRachel White is the consummate good girl. A hardworking attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid-of-honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always done the right thing and played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiancé, Dex—and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same about her. As the September wedding date nears, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.SOMETHING BLUEDarcy Rhone has always been able to rely on a few things: Her beauty and charm. Her fiancé Dex. Her lifelong best friend Rachel. She never needed anything else. Or so she thinks until Dex calls off their dream wedding and she uncovers the ultimate betrayal. Blaming everyone but herself, Darcy flees to London and attempts to recreate her glamorous life on a new continent. But to her dismay, she discovers that her tried-and-true tricks no longer apply—and that her luck has finally expired. It is only then that she can begin her journey toward redemption, forgiveness, and true love.LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITHEllen and Andy Graham have the perfect marriage. There is no question how deep their devotion is, and how naturally they bring out the best in each other. But one fateful afternoon, Ellen runs into Leo. The one who brought out the worst in her. The one who left her heartbroken nearly a decade ago. The one she could never quite forget. When his reappearance ignites long-dormant emotions, Ellen begins to question whether the life she's living is the one she's meant to live.