Usually when I tell people that they laugh and ask me what my real name is. I just look them dead on and repeat, 'Free.' I left my old name behind with my old life; shed both of them like a useless layer of skin. When I stepped free of that world, I took the name Free. It is my real name. I picked it myself. What could be more real than that?"Since leaving home at the age of 18, Free has traveled the country searching for home. Her travels afford a variety of experiences, from following the Grateful Dead to waitressing in Chicago to selling jewelry in New Orleans' French Market, but nothing seems to quell her sense of unrest. All the while her estranged brother Alfie is in her thoughts. Once she finds him, perhaps she'll finally feel at home. But her world is filled with bad choices and unsavory characters, and she finds that freedom sometimes comes at a cost. The reader will feel as if they are traveling right alongside Free in this moving coming-of-age story.

    But he doesn’t know exactly what it’s about yet, so you probably shouldn’t either. Instead, here are some things that it’s sort of about (but not really): It’s sort of (but not really) about brain surgery. It’s sort of (but not really) about a hamster named Jaws 2 (after the original Jaws (who died), not the movie Jaws 2). It’s sort of (but actually quite a lot) about Alex’s parents. It’s sort of (but not really) about feeling ostrichized (which is a better word for excluded (because ostriches can’t fly so they often feel left out)). It’s sort of (but not really (but actually, the more you think about it, kind of a lot)) about empathy (which is like sympathy only better), and also love and trust and fate and time and quantum mechanics and friendship and exams and growing up. And it’s also sort of about courage. Because sometimes it actually takes quite a lot of it to bury your head in the sand.

    

    And yet, even after reading a lifetime worth of romance, I still can't get my own love life in order. But at my book club meeting, when I accidentally knock hot coffee onto the lap of the cute nerd at the next table, my luck might be about to change. Will I finally be able to find my own happily ever after?MAXI find inspiration in some of the unlikeliest places, but a nasty case of writer's block has a deadline fast approaching with zero words written. Then I stumble on a book club at my local coffee shop where I write, and the ideas start to flow. When one of the members catches my eye, the line begins to blur between real life and fiction.THE NICE GIRLS' NAUGHTY BOOK CLUB series are short, sweet, and steamy standalone romantic comedies about curvy women who enjoy reading naughty books, stepping out of their comfort zones, and finding love in unlikely places. Read COURTNEY if you like secret identity, hot nerdy guys and as steamy romantic comedy that you won't want to put down. No cheating. No cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed.