Melanie Greene

Two determined souls. One small town. Driven by grief and impulse, Livia DeLacroix quits her job and buys a small-town bed & breakfast inn. It’s a bold move, but she needs the peace of a fresh start. Looking to shine his tarnished reputation, Gregory Forst returns to Honey Wine, Texas, sure he knows how to revitalize his hometown’s tourist industry. Greg's dreams depend on his taking over Livia's property, but she isn’t renovating just for some overconfident stranger to undermine her plans. No matter how they intrigue each other, they’re constantly at odds over their common border. Filled with sparkling rivalry and sizzling moments, Common Ground is an irresistible story of new beginnings, second chances, and the power of finding your place.

Things Rachel Groff her daughter out of diapers, the back child support she’s owed, freedom from her devious, dirtbag ex-husband. Rachel has inched her way towards financial security over three years of solo parenting. Clinging to her hard-won independence, she is on guard against the type of man who deceived her in the past. Men like the too-hot and too-charming divorced dad who claims to be nothing like her ex. Things Theo Melis kayaking along the bayou, baking pies, being with his son. His big gamble paid his brewpub is in the black and garnering great reviews. Now Theo’s focused on earning a favorable rating from his manager’s ex-wife. He’s taken with her strength and ferocity of purpose, and proud when she allows him to help her escape the stresses of life. But one moment Rachel melts into him; the next, she jerks away, leaving him overheated and confused. Theo longs to earn Rachel’s trust. Rachel’s heart yearns for him, but her instincts have devastated her before. Every step they take could be a disastrous misstep. If they move in unison, can they discover a path worth taking?

Ignatius “Scorch” Madigan is all alone. At last. 
 After a bitter, public split from his band, he retreats to the seclusion of a friend’s Gulf Coast beach cottage. Now he has just two weeks to pull together his first solo album and show the world—and himself—that he has what it takes to be a star in his own right. 
 Sarita Dunway craves a refuge. Her family still treats her like their problematic wild child. They push her into Christmas prep with her godmother’s son, hoping his influence will bring her into the fold. But cheerful Christmas activities with her former nemesis leave Sarita feeling anything but festive. When her careless mistake lands Scorch in the ER, Sarita jumps at the excuse to retreat to the cottage to tend to the gorgeous, gifted, grumpy musician. 
 He doesn’t need anyone’s help. She only wants to use him. Scorch begins to yearn for days with Sarita more than silent nights working alone. Sarita finds proving herself to her family pales in comparison to the joys of being in Scorch’s world. And somewhere between the sand dunes and the mistletoe, what Scorch and Sarita unwrap in each other will be their biggest holiday surprise of all.

The complete Pier 3 Coffee series of contemporary Mocha for Mateo, Cappuccino for Callie, and Latte for LeylaMeet the Wells Alicia, Abraham, and Austin. The Pier Three Coffee trilogy is quite the adventure for these three super people but with … let’s call them quirks. They’ll figure it out in their own ways, with the help (and sometimes hindrance) of their romantic co-leads. Whether it's friends to lovers (and lovers to so much more), best friend's brother (a real grump in need of sunshine), or opposites attract (so.much.pining), the three of them grow into the best versions of themselves with new loves, and stronger community bonds, in their lives. So grab your favorite hot drink and get transported to Surfside, CA, for swells, snark, and sizzling times.

Every damn thing in Callie Hamasaki’s life is gone in a puff of smoke. With nowhere else to turn, she sublets a friend’s apartment, desperate to rebuild her career one canvas at a time. And if her best friend’s brother would stop intruding on her with his dictates, she’d unstick and unlock a way forward. Did she ask Abraham Wells for his help? Not even a little. But he’s giving it anyway, because helping is all he’s good for. He takes care of people, and so what? No one else complains with over-the-top insults and pointed comments about him acting like a martyr. Only Callie, with her sass and her talent and the way her hips move when she dances. She could paint a mural full of all Abraham doesn’t know about how he’s messing up his own life. But if he’s going to keep griping at her, why would she bother telling him? After all, baring their truths could leave them stripped down to nothing but the attraction between them, and that’s—probably—not worth the risk.

Every December, Chloe and Gabe meet at a mutual friend’s Christmas party. Every year, the holiday sparks fly. Chloe returned to a ravaged New Orleans to help rebuild a first-class Neonatal ICU in the city she’d loved during her residency. Energized and fulfilled by her job, her only personal desire is for casual good times in the Big Easy. Gabe’s marriage ended when his wife’s disdain for his artistic ambitions sapped both his professional confidence and his trust in love. Having thrown his heart into his career, he’s not interested in putting anyone but himself first. The year they finally arrive at the party with no dates in tow, will the collision of her brusque nature and his creative soul put a permanent damper on their Christmas cheer? Or will the spark between them ignite into a flame as blazing as a sax solo on Bourbon Street? A standalone novella featuring characters from Melanie Greene's EYE OF THE TIGER, LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL will make your holiday spicier than a big bowl of Cajun gumbo.

Cole Dunway’s got everything under control. Well, not everything. But the things he can control? Those are locked down. Until he’s wheeling through the airport, heading back to the Gulf Coast for Christmas with his family, and smacks into distressed friend-of-a-friend Andi Ennis. Andi’s at a loss. Bag packed, they/them badge pinned to their chest, flight on time … but abruptly uninvited to their family home. Which is fine. They’ll figure something out. Especially if know-it-all Cole gets his way and drags Andi home with him. Sharing a cozy beach cottage, and the warmth of family, Andi and Cole find unexpected connections and plenty of heat to draw them together. But is it only holiday magic, or can the romance endure once they’ve left the sand and Santa behind?

Margo Dunway has wanderlust. It’s like regular lust, but with travel thrown in. She’s spent years locked in place, and is ready to set off on unfettered adventures as she figures out, well, the whole rest of her life. Karl Moore isn’t lonely. Not exactly. He has his golden retriever, and the choirs he directs, and his thousand dreams of settling down, securely anchored to the Gulf Coast town he’s made home. Goaded into joining an Advent handbell choir, Margo is shocked to run across Karl, a painful reminder of the church where her faith was shattered. He’s as compelling as ever, but she resolves to resist his lures long enough to survive the Christmas season. Then she can sail away from all the temptations that would hold her back from finding her true passion. Margo may be everything Karl ever dreamed of, but her dreams can’t come true if she’s constrained within the world he holds dear. He can’t be her ballast, but can his heart afford for him to stand by and watch while she flies free? The Dunway Siblings series (Feather In Her Cap, Twelve Scorching Days, and Margo of the Bells) are gender-flipped fairy tale retellings with bright, bold characters, small towns, musicians, and holiday vibes.

Can this golden knight in a flour-dusted apron rise to her challenge? Book 1 of this new romcom trilogy will spill all the beans! Alicia Wells never asked for a knight in flour-dusted apron to show up full of ideas for saving her surf-side cafe. She’s quite brilliant at plans, which is how she kept Pier 3 Coffee afloat through plenty of tough times already. She’ll just have to do it again. Mateo James doesn’t want to live for his family bakery, but even more, he doesn’t want his father to die for it. So he’ll do what’s required of him, including throwing himself into community organizing. If it helps his parents, and Alicia, to thrive, he’ll sacrifice anything. Even his own chance at happiness. As Alicia charges forward with his plans to save Pier 3, Mateo would love to slow her down long enough to show her the value of their connection. But if she won’t let him in, he’ll have no choice but to let her go.

He craves a place to land. Photographer Victor Anthony has one lifelong friend—Anton Bellamy—and one lifelong crush—Anton’s big sister Gill. A romantic to the core, each pic he snaps of Gill sharpens his conviction that she’s the key to finally having a family that sticks around. She needs to fly free. In the year her three best friends all wed, Gillian Bellamy takes her own vow: to put herself first. Her family life and a career in academia have taught her that no one else ever will. When her friends learn about their college hookup, they pester Gill to give Vic a second chance. Will his dreams stop her from soaring? But Gill doesn’t want to be the raven-haired, razor-witted cake topper of Vic’s dreams. Her relationship terms are short term, while his heart-eyes are looking for permanent ties. And she can’t trust that he’d focus on her if she wasn’t his best friend’s sister.

Austin everyone’s comic relief, the unmotivated baby brother with the occasional bright idea. In other words, nowhere good enough for brilliant, driven, gorgeous Leyla Robinson. He tries to content himself with admiring her from across the barista counter while she works on taking the world by storm. Austin is, Leyla’s sure, just as sweet and funny and attentive and flirty with her as he is with everyone else he serves at Pier Three Coffee. She’s nothing special. To be blunt, she’s boring. All she ever does is follow the rigorous schedule she sets herself to get through grad school and fight for the career she craves. They’ve been watching each other for so long, each so sure of their own opinions about themselves and each other. But when Leyla finds she can help with Austin’s secret ambitions, so long as she gives up a few layers of her own self-protections, they must both decide how much to risk on the other’s behalf. And what happens if, in the process, they begin to see themselves the way they see each other?

Their matchmaker folks think it’d be great If Natalie and Evan would date Watch them say, “No thanks,” But plow into the banks Of the slippery slope where they skate Natalie East and Evan Lee are determined to stay single. Their parents, recent friends, are just as determined to get them together. Natalie, still reeling from the abrupt end of a three-year relationship, needs to prove to her mother that they are both capable of leading successful, independent lives. But her mother clings to convention, no matter how often Natalie exposes her to kickboxing classes and online car maintenance tutorials. In fact, she increases the pressure to match her daughter to her friend’s self-indulgent and status-obsessed son. The interference is driving Natalie wild. Evan spent his twenties scaling educational and corporate ladders, working hundred-hour weeks, and doing everything necessary to land him in a window office on the nineteenth floor. Now he's ready to play. He can't wait to begin the casual, consensual fun he promised himself. While he was busy achieving success, his parents were busy planning the rest of his life: they can't stop gushing about Natalie's sweet, steady, settled-down stance. Their insistence and his siblings’ teasing about it challenges his ability to maintain his joking, easy-going façade. When Natalie and Evan involuntarily connect over coffee, neither is what the other expected. As their friendship grows and passions emerge, will they risk losing their independent lives? Will they discover that their long-time goals aren't as essential as they'd thought? Lighthearted friends to steamy lovers is a journey they aren't sure they are ready to take.

Everyone knows Brendan Brody, but Jeannie Dunway never expects the singing star to walk into the small-town restaurant where she’s celebrating…or for the bar owner to call him “son.” Brendan returns to Jackrabbit, Texas to stage a concert in honor of the woman who gave him his voice, even though it means acknowledging the father who preferred bottles of booze to baby bottles. He didn’t expect their first real encounter in over a decade to be interrupted by a petite firecracker of a woman whose curves make his mouth go dry. The benefit concert will be a feather in Jeannie’s professional cap, but only if she can successfully negotiate with the town’s old guard and convince them that the rebellious teen they briefly knew really has Jackrabbit’s best interests in mind. And if working on the concert also happens to give her a chance to get up close and personal with Brendan, that’s fine with Jeannie.

Fame, fortune, what more could Kim-ly Phan want? Kim’s first computer game hit big, catapulting her into success. She’s young, fashionable, clever—the perfect mix for both media adulation and online attack. A PR nightmare made her a recluse, but now all eyes are on her town as it recovers from a devastating storm. Floodwaters. Foster children. Family. The demands for Tomás Mireles’s protection loom like a pile of storm debris. The hurricane hit hard in his personal and professional lives. His evacuated family is crowded into his apartment and he’s assigned to relocate the residents of a flood-destroyed group foster home. Kim Phan offers up her mansion for the kids, plunging him into a battle of wills as he works to make it a safe refuge. She’s opened her home, but has learned better than to open her heart. He thinks she’s in it for the publicity and praise, meaning he has to work even harder to protect those in need. She thinks he’s one of the many who value her only for what she can give. Will their mistrust of each other drown out the attraction that could bring them both safely to a new outlook on their future?

When the seams of her past unravel, a stitch in time saves … love. Quilter Ashlyn May has her hands full. When she accepts a spot at the FireWind Artist Retreat, she's prepared to defend her craft against the skepticism of her fellow artists, even as she struggles to rediscover her creative drive. She doesn’t expect to learn a devastating family secret, or to find comfort in the arms of photographer Caleb Kendall. As spring blooms in the rolling hills of Central Texas, the pillars of her life crumble, leaving her to choose between breaking her grandmother’s heart and honoring the values of honesty and openness her grandparents instilled in her. Meanwhile, the dramas of her new friends and artistic debates range around her, leaving Caleb her only safe harbor. But can their relationship possibly survive once they’re outside the insular world of FireWind? Filled with Melanie Greene’s trademark humor and intelligence, this contemporary romance asks timeless questions about love and how to build a future over the rubble of the past.

Janice Newton avoids close ties by directing all her energy toward her job and using her well-developed defense system to keep everyone, especially the co-worker she secretly craves, at arm's length. But will her fear of reopening old wounds keep her from a relationship with the one person who sees through her tough exterior and into her vulnerable heart? Miguel Rosas has developed a strategy of his own - one that should tumble Janice's walls - if only he can execute it. A burning dinner, intrusive relatives, and a secret from his past conspire to keep his plans half-baked, though he’s determined to get things sizzling. This standalone novella featuring characters from Melanie Greene’s ROCKET MAN brings Janice and Miguel together for a long-anticipated date that threatens to become an epic disaster. Little does Miguel know that the very problems he’s trying to quell provide the insights that finally make Janice READY TO ROLL.

Serena Colby wants one thing. Dillon Hamilton wants everything. Steady, focused graphic artist Serena has her life perfectly planned out. After a childhood being moved from one place to another, she craves the permanence of a home that's hers and hers alone. And everything is lining up just right. That is, until disruptive copywriter Dillon comes blasting into her workplace and spins her personal life out of control. Serena tries to draw boundaries, but the gorgeous Dillon has a much sexier script for their lives in mind. He's pulled towards Serena's orbit, quickly ranking her sexiest skirts and memorizing the scent of her locally sourced organic shampoo. Serena struggles to remain unmoved by Dillon's kinetic charm, even as she relishes their chats about their mutual passion, the Houston Rockets. Though order-loving Serena shies away from Dillon's messy complications, she can't escape her fantasies. When Dillon's determined pursuit leaves Serena breathless, it might just be 'all systems are go' for Rocket Man.