Karla Sorensen

This is a previously-published edition - ASIN: B07VF9SF12 I'm Levi Buchanan, and until five years ago, I thought the legend of my family's curse was a load of crazy, Southern nonsense.No curse can make you fall in love at first sight. No curse can force a true, deep, passionate, all-consuming love that will haunt you all the days of your life.Then I met Jocelyn Abernathy and I realized how completely wrong I was.The problem is, Jocelyn guards her feelings like well-armed soldier. She's the most beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I've ever met. Every time she talks, I want to kiss the living daylights out of her. But I can't.Because when we met, she didn't need true love. She needed a best friend. And that's what I've been to her... for five years.But when Jocelyn meets a handsome stranger her first day working at Donner Bakery and she lets him buy her a dill pickle cupcake, I realize with ominous regret that I may have missed my window with my best friend.If I can't get her to see past our friendship, my new curse may be to watch the love of my life move on with someone else. 'Baking Me Crazy' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Logan Ward doesn’t want any more women in his life. Being a football player and legal guardian to his four younger sisters means his playbook is full. However, one of them just landed in the hospital, which gives his brother the shot he needs to challenge Logan for custody. Legal counsel says there’s only one thing Logan can do—find himself a wife. Paige McKinney doesn’t always think things through. Like walking away from her modeling career without a thought of what might come next. She really doesn’t think it through when she proclaims herself Logan’s fiancé at the hospital, simply because the sexy—albeit grumpy—football player forgot his cell phone at a party and security won’t let her pass. It’s not her fault it was overheard by the worst possible person. A bargain is struck, and a fake marriage is the perfect solution. But the simple solution creates a whole new problem: they’re not as different as they seem. The reluctant groom has fire inside him, and his impetuous bride is about to light the match.

Life lesson from Grady Buchanan: If you're going to fall in love with the untouchable girl in town, don't hire her as your only employee. Even after he bungled the interview with Magnolia MacIntyre, he knew better than to hire her. The list of why it's a bad idea is a long one. Her father could ruin his fledgling business. She is completely overqualified. And he’s attracted to her. What does Grady do? He offers her the job. Magnolia knew better than to take it. Normally, she'd make the safe choice, and working for Grady is anything but. He's new in town--and entirely too charming. Her dad will be furious. She hates the outdoors and working for an outdoor adventure company is not exactly the right fit. What does she do? She says yes on the spot. Grady and Magnolia will have to prove to everyone in their life that they're not crazy. And prove to each other that the list of why it's a bad idea should be tossed out the window. For these two opposites, sometimes doing the wrong thing is exactly right.

You know the hot neighbor boy you crushed on all your teenage years? Imagine seeing him ten years later and he turns out to be a complete jerk, then you know how I feel. Our last encounter was awkward, given I’d climbed into his bedroom window to turn my unrequited crush into something ... requited. That day was bad enough, but things just got worse. Noah Griffin turned himself into one of the best football players in the country and a transfer to the Washington Wolves— the team I work for—lands him on my doorstep. The timing couldn't be worse, because my boss just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. And that promotion rides squarely on Noah's big, muscular, condescending shoulders. He wants nothing to do with me, and the feeling is so very mutual. But for the sake of my career, I can ignore all those things about him that drive me insane. His eyes. His mouth. His big, big … hands. Until one day, we can’t ignore them anymore. You know what they say about the line between love and hate though? They’re so very right.

You know what I don’t have time for? The brooding, dark-eyed former love of my life showing up when my life is finally settling down. I don’t have time for Hunter Buchanan and that intense look in his eyes. The way he loved me so perfectly all those years ago. I’m the one who asked him to leave back then, my attempt at saving him from the chaos of my screwed up family. I didn’t expect him back in Green Valley, looking better than before and with an empty ring finger. And I definitely didn’t expect him to still be in love with me. I don’t have time for the things I feel around him, or how amazing it is when he touches me. Most of all, for the broken heart I’ll have if I have to say goodbye again. I survived him leaving once before, but I don’t think I can do it again. So there’s only one thing I can make time for… staying away from Hunter Buchanan. ‘Worth the Wait’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #4 in the Love At First Sight series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

You know that girl from your past that you can’t quite stop thinking about? The one that you pushed away because you had a goal that seemed so much bigger, so much more important than any crush you might have had? That’s Adaline Wilder for me. Nothing came before football. Not in college, and not in my five years in the pros. All I wanted was to win games, win a championship, carve my own path out of the illustrious Ward family football legacy. And I’ve done all that. But something is missing. I’ve never been wrong about what I want. Except with her. She moved on to someone else, but that baseball playing moron just broke her heart. I don’t blame her for not trusting me, but even Adaline can’t deny the heat when we’re together. I have one shot at winning her back. And I intend to take it.

Imagine this: an author with a raging case of writer’s block finds an unexpected source of inspiration in her grumpy, gorgeous new roommate. Sounds amazing, right? Except that new roommate is my childhood best friend. And Ian Wilder has been off-limits since I was five. It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen him, but when I return to my hometown after years away, Ian’s exactly the man I remembered. The same guy who gave me his coat on a playground when we were kids and promised he’d take care of me forever. I need a quiet place to work with this deadline looming. I need a place where my daughter can unwind. Enter Ian with an offer I can’t refuse: his spare bedroom. It’s an easy yes. Except now the problem is I can’t stop thinking about him, and these thoughts? They’re wandering out of the friend zone. I keep imagining very creative ways to rip off his clothes. And Ian starts giving me looks of his own, the kind that make my heart race. One night, we cross a line we can’t uncross. The lines have blurred, and our friendship is hanging by a thread. Imagine this: a woman falling for her best friend. And she has no idea if he feels the same.

Rule number 1 for the team owner’s daughter? Don’t date the players. Especially not hotheaded tight ends with tattoos and impulse control problems. That’s why Dominic Walker is completely off my radar. Sort of. Babysitting the team troublemaker when he’s forced to volunteer for the foundation where I work means I can’t exactly avoid him. I wish I had though. Because once I get to know Dominic, it’s almost impossible to ignore the feelings he brings out in me. Pretty soon, I’m breaking all my rules. I just have to hope he doesn’t break my heart in the process.

There’s only one course of action when your dad wants you to marry a clammy-handed wimp to make one of his board members happy—you get yourself stuck in an elevator with a hot stranger and have the steamiest make-out session of your life. Years of etiquette lessons went out the window thanks to Cameron Wilder, who managed to unleash my hidden bad girl with naught but his talented mouth and deliciously rough hands. Afterwards, he went back to his small-town life, and I marched home to inform my dad there would be no business-centric nuptials. As punishment, he shipped me off to Sisters, Oregon and demanded I turn a healthy profit on a not-so-healthy property. You see where I’m going with this—the buttoned-up city girl stuck in a small town hires a local builder to help her … and he’s the hot stranger from the elevator. Turns out, I have a weakness for the broad-shouldered nice guy who’s not so nice behind closed doors. Keeping things professional gets harder the longer I’m in town, until the only lesson I have left to learn is how to keep both our hearts from getting broken.

A tough-as-leather football player. A happy-go-lucky historian. It’s love against all odds in a warm and emotional romance about found family, friendship, and the restorative powers of the heart. Former Dallas football player Burke Barrett is weathering a lot of changes. He’s retired from football. He’s mourning the loss of his best friend. And now he’s been bequeathed a dilapidated house in northern Michigan he doesn’t want. To his surprise it comes with a long-legged, blindly optimistic renovation manager with big ideas for Burke’s inheritance. She’s passionate, irritating, and irresistible. Restoration expert Charlotte Cunningham is used to rough exteriors. This surly client, with his stubbled jaw, towering physique, and inflexible attitude, is worth smoothing over. The attraction sizzles, and a proposal is in order: a romantic tryst to relieve the tension. No strings attached. A safe bet for both of them since Burke is prepared to renovate, sell, and move on. A pet project with an end date. Does that go for love too? Burke must decide what he really wants and what he’s willing to risk. He should know by now that the best-laid plans can change in a heartbeat.

You are cordially invited to my fake wedding. Marrying Beckett Coleman is the best idea I've had in years. I can grant my sick dad’s wish to walk one of his daughters down the aisle, and Beckett has my help solving a custody situation with his daughter. Our plan is to spend a year together, then part ways. Easy, especially since I'm not his type, and he's not mine either. He’s too quiet and too serious. And while he’s distractingly gorgeous, he’s also my brother’s teammate. Beckett is fake husband material, not the real deal. I just have to remember that. Until I move in with him. Get to know him. Share a bed with him. Turns out, the line between fake and real isn't just blurry, it's almost impossible to uphold when he looks at me the way he does. This marriage is a whole lot more complicated than we bargained for. We’re threatening to destroy everything we’ve built, something neither of us can risk. Marrying Beckett might’ve been the best idea in years. But falling in love with him would be the worst.

Have you ever fake dated your bodyguard? I don't recommend it. Especially if he's anything like Erik Wilder: former football player, world class know-it-all and unapologetic grump. To be clear, I didn't want a bodyguard (hence the fake dating idea). Most days, I can’t figure out why he wants the job either. We drive each other insane, probably because we’re as opposite as two people can be. He’s suspicious, never talks about his past and has the comfort skills of a cactus. I’m a happily ever after kinda girl who knows exactly what she wants out of life. Erik’s words might say that the lines have to stay firm between us, but those dark eyes of his? They tell another story when he looks at me. He’s just as stubborn as I am, but when our fake dating plan starts to feel a lot more real, it's only a matter of time before his professional walls come crashing down. I just have to hope my heart doesn't get buried in the rubble.

He’s commitment phobic. She believes in happy endings. The twist of fate that binds them is a surprise they never saw coming in a bittersweet romance about instant family—and not-so-instant love. A decade-old animosity is the only thing Liam Davies and Zoe Valentine have in common. Until their mutual best friends pass away and they’re appointed co-guardians of the trusting couple’s precocious toddler, Mira. Liam is committed only to professional football. Relationship-wise, he’s even better at defense. Still wrestling with a tough childhood, he’s not cut out to be a father. Why his late best buddy believed in him, Liam has no idea. An optimistic romantic, Zoe has always dreamed of a fairy-tale life. But even though Liam’s biceps make her dizzy and she can’t stop thinking about his lips on hers, he’s not exactly Prince Charming. With or without that brooding Brit, she is determined to make good on her friends’ last wish. Forced into a predicament they never expected, Zoe and Liam are discovering things about each other that could scorch through boundaries, warm hearts, and change minds. And best of all, with their shared love for a pint-size surprise like Mira, they might just turn a house into a home.

No man has ever rattled Isabel Ward. Until Aiden Hennessy walks in the door of her gym—ownership papers in hand. The former fighter is a lot of things — a single dad, a widower trying to start over, and a watchful presence that knocks her off her very capable feet. To make matters worse, Isabel had a crush on him for the entirety of her teenage years. Doodles in her diaries and letters declaring her admiration—while never sent—haunt the absolute crap out of her now that she has to face him every day. No woman has ever tempted Aiden to move on from the memory of his wife—until Isabel. She’s too young, too fiery, too much of everything he should avoid. But avoiding is impossible, just like pretending the blistering chemistry between them doesn’t exist. Now that the unshakeable woman is shaken and the untemptable man is tempted, Isabel and Aiden have to decide what they’re willing to risk for a taste of the forbidden.

Life lessons from Grace Buchanan: If you're going to fall in love with the town golden boy, make sure he's single first. Don’t worry, when Grace moves into town from LA, she doesn’t kick off Green Valley’s greatest love triangle, but she does make quite an entrance. When her car breaks down just inside the city limits, the knight in shining pickup truck is Tucker Haywood—tall, handsome, full of southern charm, and a giant pain in Grace’s butt. She’s not even sure why he bugs her so much, he just does. In fact, she can’t stop thinking about why he’s so irritating, until she realizes that she just plain can’t stop thinking about him. Tucker can’t stop thinking about Grace either, because the moment her combat-boot clad feet prop up on the dashboard of his truck, she’s like a blonde bombshell wrecking ball in his perfectly constructed life. Turns out the bad girl and the golden boy have a lot more in common than they think, and that delicious discovery will rock Green Valley in a way that no one saw coming.

If you've ever had a steamy one-night stand with a British football player and then find yourself pregnant with his baby, you know how Lia Ward feels. To be fair, Lia didn't know who Jude McAllister was when they met. Across the ocean for a semester studying for her master's program, all she knows is that she's a little lonely and he's very charming, even as they have an epically sexy argument about which type of football is superior. In Jude's mind, shagging the feisty American girl is exactly what he needs. He’s been fighting the clock of his long-standing football career and the younger players primed to take his position. Proving that he can feel like his old self again—something he's been trying to do with everyone in his life—should be easier after blowing off steam with Lia. But oh baby, when a plus sign pops up on Lia's pregnancy test, that 'one night' becomes a whole lot more. Now Lia and Jude have to navigate their impossible-to-ignore chemistry, and prepare for the parenting game, something neither of them know how to play.

Every action has a consequence, and Claire Ward knows it. And yet, even knowing that her decision to swap places with her identical twin sister, Lia, for a night could be disastrous, she still does it. Why? Because it will give her an evening with the man she’s been crushing on for years, Lia’s best friend, Finn. Miss Straight A Student has thought through all the angles, and knows the risk is worth it. And everything would have been fine, if Finn had been the one to show up at her door. But it wasn’t. Bauer Davis— Finn’s half brother and his exact opposite in just about every definable category is the one waiting for her instead. A professional snowboarder, Bauer is covered in ink, full of attitude, and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Olympus. The kind of bad boy that Claire has never been attracted to before. Now the good girl is with the wrong brother for a night, and when the consequence is that they have to pretend to be together for an event, it’s nothing she could have predicted. But maybe, just maybe, what makes Bauer so bad, is exactly what Claire needs.

Have you ever had that one guy that you shouldn’t have had such a crush on, but still did? Matthew Hawkins was that man for me. First, he was off-limits, and second, I was just a gangly teenager the last time he saw me. But a lot can change in ten years. As one of the best defensive players in the league, he just came out of retirement to sign with the team that I work for. And as the publicist for the Washington Wolves, he’s so good, it makes my job easy peasy. In the years since I’ve seen Matthew, he’s bigger, better looking, and best of all—completely single. And despite our strange history, the attraction between us definitely isn’t one-sided anymore. The chemistry between us is complicated—and hot. Hot enough to burn down the entire city of Seattle, which is why keeping it a secret from the press—and my family—is the only way we can be together. But the truth always comes out. And when it does, there’s no predicting the ending.

My new neighbor is a complete jerk. A tall, brooding, tattooed jerk. I tried to be nice, bake some cupcakes for him and his adorable daughter, and the only reaction I could come up with to his ice-cold reception was to shove those pink cupcakes right into his muscular chest. In my defense, it was a rough week. Being back in Seattle for the first time in years was hard enough, the fact that I was there for the dispersal of my father’s will made it even harder. I had no intention of staying, until I got a football stadium-sized surprise as my dad’s final gift to me. No … really. He left me a football team. It’s how I found myself in a conference room, staring down the veteran quarterback who wants nothing to do with a new owner. And that quarterback? It’s my tall, brooding, tattooed jerk of a neighbor. Now he’s everywhere. Next door with his daughter. In meetings. Don’t even get me started on away games. Luke Pierson is under my skin, and pretty soon, I’m not sure I want it any other way.