Kayley Loring

EDDIE: Cancel your dinky little roomette on the train. I’m booking us two of the big bedroom suites. BIRDIE: I’ll cancel it AFTER you’ve booked the other sleeper rooms. And reimburse you. EDDIE: Don’t worry about it. Just cancel your tickets. I got this. Round trip. I’m on the Amtrak website right now. BIRDIE: You don’t have to leave NYC when I do! You’ll hardly be able to spend any time with your Instagram girlfriend that you've never met! EDDIE: It’s fine. She’ll be fine with it. Cancel your tickets. BIRDIE: You aren’t going to stop texting me until I’ve canceled them, are you? EDDIE: Damn right I’m not. Just do it. You can thank me later. *** EDDIE: Um. Did you cancel your tickets? BIRDIE: Yes, Edward. I canceled them. EDDIE: Okay, because it turns out they only had one Family Bedroom from LA to Chicago. But the good news is I booked it for us. It’s the biggest room they had. The bad news is I booked it for us. And it’s the only sleeper room they have left now. EDDIE: In related news, there was also only one room left from Chicago to New York. EDDIE: Hands up if you’re excited! *man raising hand emoji* BIRDIE: I am so mad at you right now. *** BIRDIE: I’ve compiled a list of ground rules re shared train bedroom. Check your email, please read carefully, and refer to it again on the ninth of February. Thank you. EDDIE: *nerd face emoji* Received. I have some notes.

Dear grouchy I’m considering your offer and need clarification before proceeding. Despite being an artist, I think you know that as a busy New Yorker, I am also practical and straightforward. That said, I need to make sure you know that this could never turn into anything serious. I don’t care if you’re trying to get over your ex-girlfriend or hoping she’ll eventually want to get back together with you—just don’t project your messy feelings about her onto me. Because, despite your resemblance to an underwear model, I won’t be falling for you. Ever. Yours, with clear boundaries, Bernadette p.s. I’d like to be very clear that regardless of whether or not we do this, nothing will change my feelings for your dog (and we both know she loves me too). Dear nutty As a lawyer, I must clarify that I never made an offer. It was a suggestion regarding the possibility of a non-permanent, no-strings-attached arrangement between two consenting adults whose beds are separated by a wall. As a man who shares your disdain for messy feelings, I applaud your confidence in your ability to not fall for me. Hold on to that. I’d also like to make it clear that I don’t care if you want to get over your crush on your boss or if you still hope he’ll realize you’re the woman of his dreams. That said, I definitely wasn’t thinking about my ex-girlfriend when I kissed you in the laundry room, and I’m quite sure you weren’t thinking about your boss. As a dog daddy, I'm glad you're so taken with my girl. But if you try to steal her I will get all Liam Neeson up in your pretty face. As a busy New Yorker, I think clear boundaries are hot. I have one hour free to blow your mind tonight. So turn off Netflix, put down that glass of wine, and let’s do this. Yours for now, Matt

A single dad, a model, and a comedian walk into a bar… They’re all Owen Brodie. It’s only funny if you aren’t the hilarious struggling comedian who has been hired to be his son’s nanny for the stand-up tour. Dear Ms. Hogan, I’m emailing to offer you the job as my son’s nanny because Sam had a temper tantrum when I told him I can’t hire you to come on my stand-up tour with us. “She heckled me at a club a few years ago,” I wanted to say. “She is the sassy little turd who trolls me on Twitter,” I could have told him. “She’s an even bigger pain in the butt when we’re face-to-face,” I thought to myself. What I would never tell him is—things could get complicated. For reasons. Let me know if you want the job. With great reluctance, Owen #AdorableHowObsessedYouAreWithMe Dear Mr. Brodie, Thank you for your email. Please inform Sam that I like him very much and would love to be his nanny and accompany him on your terrible joke of a stand-up tour. I can assure you—things will not get complicated. For many, many reasons. Primarily because Owen Brodie isn’t funny, and he can suck it. Out of financial desperation and a fondness for your son, Frankie #GetOverYourselfPrettyBoy

#4 Callum Duquette. Placekicker for the Boston Tomcats. Former underwear model. NICKNAME: Duke. I thought the most annoying thing about being a single dad was that my friends were always trying to find me a date. Until a sassy British ray of sunshine bumps into me at a bookstore. One accidental butt grab, a viral photo, and a lot of misunderstandings later, I find myself in a fake relationship with a movie star. Now I’ve got my friends off my back, but the cheeky Brit has complicated my life even more. She calls me the Duke of Grumpville. I call her movies the end of civilization as we know it. She calls my job “the wrong kind of football.” I call her the one thing on Earth that can make me lose focus and control. It’s getting harder to pretend I still want this to end after my team’s game in London. I thought we were only faking it. But getting to know the real Millie Darden changed everything.

Dear Mr. Brodie, I hope this email finds you well. Your well-being and personal growth are of the utmost importance to me, as a therapist. As such, I have decided it is in your best interest to continue individual therapy with another practitioner. This is due to the potential for boundaries being crossed between us. Attached is a list of colleagues I would recommend for you. Sincerely, Scarlett Shepard, MS, MFT Dear Scarlett, Cool. Consider our sessions terminated. Now I can tell you how beautiful you are and how attracted I am to you. Let’s start crossing boundaries over dinner tonight. You’ll say it would be unethical, and I’ll point out that we’ve only had a few sessions. You’ll cite the age difference, and I’ll tell you how hot it is that you’re six years older than me. You’ll say you’re a mom, and I’ll remind you that I think your son is awesome. We don’t have to discuss my former attachments to former co-stars ever again. This is due to the fact that clearly my only personality issue is that I’m irresistible. Yours in well-being and personal growth, Dylan Brodie, W.M.H.T.A.T.Y.E.H. (Way More Handsome and Talented Actor Than Your Ex-Husband)

“Just give me the summer. You can go back to playing it safe with boring men in September.” There are bad ideas and there are good bad ideas. My former fiancé banging a nanny—that was a bad idea. A good girl having her first ever one-night stand with the hot former bad boy she just met after being dumped? Bad idea. When I find out that the nanny's ex-boyfriend is looking for revenge, I should run—far away. But I don’t…because rebounding with Vince is the most awesome bad idea ever. Do I want to help him get back at our exes in this way? Oh. Hell. Yes. I want him to get back at my ex hard. With wild abandon. All night long. That awesome bad idea leads to the best summer of my life with Vince Devlin—the best guy I’ve ever met. If only we could make this hot summer fling last forever…

#12 Johnny Decker. Star quarterback for the Boston Tomcats. Two-time Super Bowl MVP...a decade ago. Nickname: Decker the Panty Wrecker. I get tackled for a living by men who are built like rhinos. I could take the wings off a fly with a football from 30 yards away. (I wouldn’t, but I could.) Being a veteran quarterback means I’m a mentally alert, fine-tuned athletic machine who can make split-second decisions. It’s my job to anticipate what’s going to happen next and adapt. But I couldn’t have anticipated the death of our beloved team owner. His estranged daughter Hannah Strong is a finance nerd from New York. She knows less than nothing about football. Know what she didn’t anticipate? Inheriting the Boston Tomcats. She’s stubborn, uptight, infuriating, and wrong about absolutely everything—from pizza to how to run my team. And I don’t want to talk about how good she looks in a skirt. Or daydream about how good she’d look out of it. Really, I don’t. I’m not Decker the Panty Wrecker anymore—I’ve changed. I can’t stop arguing with her. Or thinking about her. I thought I had a winning play. But Hannah Strong changed everything.

Not gonna lie to you. When he walked into my restaurant, I thought he was the hottest man I’d ever seen in person. And then he spoke. And I realized who he was. The world now knows him as John Brandt—ridiculously wealthy handsome genius workaholic startup founder and tech entrepreneur. I will always think of him as the annoying geek who's my older brother’s best friend. He yanked my pigtails and called me Tiny Dancer. I put rubber snakes in his sleeping bag and called him Johnny B. Nerdballs. Market research has told him that he needs a girlfriend for an important business trip and gala event. He says he doesn’t want to bring someone that he has to impress or make an effort with, so he thought of me and figures I could use a nice vacation from my life right about now. He is one cocky nerd. Even if he’s right. I need the money and he can actually help me with my career, but I think he needs to be schooled in the art of treating a lady right. Lucky for him, I am just the woman to finally teach him…Turns out his total lack of social skills does not correspond to a lack of skills in the bedroom. At all. He even teaches me a few new tricks. Every time he opens his obnoxious mouth I can’t believe this guy’s for real. Every time he touches me, every time he reminds me of who I was before I started to lose myself in the big city, I can’t believe that what we have right now is fake. I’m afraid that by the end of the month either I will have punched him in the face, or the last man on earth I ever thought I’d fall in love with will have broken my heart. Or both. COCKY NERD is a standalone older brother’s best friend / fake relationship romantic comedy with a real sexy nerd, real laughs, real steam and a real happy ending. Brainy is the new sexy!

What’s the actual last thing you’d ever want your executive assistant to see you doing the morning after you had hot, drunk, angry sex with her in a terrible hotel room? Dancing around your terrible hotel room to “Come and Get Your Love” like Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy—naked? Yeah. Me too. And yet, here we are. This isn’t even the most unprofessional thing that’s happened between us in the past couple of weeks. The first was when I agreed to let her have Christmas Day off, but only if she goes with me to three family gatherings as my fake girlfriend. The second was when she caught me belting out a Christmas song on stage in the awful hotel bar. The third was the hot, drunk, angry sex that followed, but I do not regret it. And she hasn’t even found out the real reason I need her by my side this holiday season. I need to pull it together before I do the dumbest, most unprofessional thing of all—fall head over heels in love with the only assistant who’s lasted more than a month at the job and claims to hate me and my moods more than she hates eggnog. And I’ve seen how much she hates eggnog.

NICO She serves me coffee late at night when I come around to write lyrics, but it’s not the caffeine I’ve gotten addicted to. We’ve got the spark, but she’s the only woman in town who seems to be immune to my charms. When it’s time for me to leave for my cross-country tour, I just can’t imagine not seeing her for months. So I offer her a job on the road with me. KAT Everyone in LA knows that Nico Todd has a way with songs and with the ladies. What he doesn’t know is that I would love to let him have his way with me. But my life can only revolve around one infuriatingly cute guy— the six-year-old that I live with. Imagine my surprise when Nico finds out about my little boy and tells me to bring him and my mom on the road too. And imagine Nico’s surprise when he realizes my son is the biggest charmer of them all.

This is a story about a cabin in a small town, a workaholic New Yorker who hates the holidays, and a hot nerd local doctor who loves Christmas...and flirxting. It starts to snow. There is also a dog. It’s a short, sweet, hilarious and steamy Christmas story to enjoy with your eggnog. Just kidding. Nobody enjoys eggnog. Enjoy this with something chocolate-y. *Please note: a shorter version of this story was included in the USA Today bestselling anthology SMARTASSES. This edition has over 2500 more words than the anthology version.

SHANE MILLER SLEEP DIARY: Went to bed at: Late. How long it took to fall asleep: Forever. I have insomnia. Duh. Number of caffeinated beverages you had consumed: Zero. Thanks for advising me to quit! My stress level is off the charts. I can’t sleep right on a normal day, and lately my days are filled with the best kind of chaos. My ex-wife and husband number two are filming in Poland for three months, so I’m turning down movie parts to focus on the most important role of my life— impossibly charming and somewhat capable young single dad. My son won’t stop asking questions. My daughter won’t brush her teeth unless I sing her showtunes. Our regular nanny quit. The only person I could trust to hire as a temp nanny is my best friend’s sister. If Mary Poppins and Bill Murray had a baby it would be Willa. Fresh out of grad school and beautifully weird. She hates my movies, and my kids adore her. I couldn’t sleep last night because she wasn’t here. Turns out I can’t sleep unless she’s in my house now. Turns out she’s what’s been missing from my life all along. If my friend had any idea what I want to do to his gorgeous troublemaker of a sister, he would smother me with a pillow. The chances of us succeeding as a couple are about as good as that little indie movie that I made being a huge hit. But it’s a chance I’m going to take.

Dear Fiona, I hope this letter finds you well—and by well, I mean significantly less infuriated than you were yesterday.I’ve wanted to continue our conversation from the night we met, but there are so many things I can’t say or do, now that I’m your professor.As an anonymous letter writer, I can give you some idea of what I have planned for us, once the year is over.As an author, I can share my work in progress with you.Not for you to critique but to show you how much you mean to me.When you’re done reading this page, destroy it—and then write me back.Don’t sign the letter. Don’t put a return address on the envelope. Mail it from a random mailbox.Yours in problem solving,MeP.S. I still think you’re wasting your talent on that historical romance novel.P.P.S. I really wanted to push you up against the door and kiss your beautiful, angry face. I will. One day.***Dear Emmett,Your handwriting is almost as terrible as your mood swings, and it would have been my instinct to destroy that letter even if you hadn’t ordered me to.If you show me your work in progress, I will critique it.I am currently still too infuriated to write about all the other feelings I have for you.Expect another letter soon.Your problem and your solution,MeP.S. I still think an overpaid, overrated, overly handsome bestselling author of thrillers has no business teaching creative writing at a prestigious New York university.P.P.S. To my great horror, I really wanted you to push me up against that door and kiss my angry face too. I understand now that your appalling way of treating me in class has been overcompensation, but I don’t forgive you for it. I’ll kiss you again anyway. One day.

What’s the actual last thing you’d ever want your celebrity crush to see you doing when you finally come face-to-excruciatingly-handsome-face with him? Singing and dancing around by yourself to “Dreams” by The Cranberries while drinking straight from a bottle of champagne? While you’re wearing some wedding gown you just found in a closet? Yeah. Me too.And yet, here we are.At a mountain cabin I was sent to by the awfully pretty actress/pretty awful human I work for to get things ready for her romantic New Year’s Eve getaway with him.That’s not even the worst thing about the way I meet Holden Archer.The actress has been paying me to have textual relations with him, pretending to be her—and she doesn’t even like him!Is it terrible that a snowstorm prevents us from leaving and the actress from getting here?Neither Holden nor I think so.Because it turns out our connection goes back a lot further than those texts.And just like in all my favorite romantic comedies, it’s what got us here that is the most amazing part of the story.Will my lack of experience cause me to freeze up when we go from inbox to in person?Or will a dreamy movie star melt my inhibitions and make all my secret New Year wishes come true?

Not gonna lie to you. When he walked into my restaurant, I thought he was the hottest man I’d ever seen in person. And then he spoke. And I realized who he was. The world now knows him as John Brandt—ridiculously wealthy handsome genius workaholic startup founder and tech entrepreneur. I will always think of him as the annoying geek who's my older brother’s best friend. He yanked my pigtails and called me Tiny Dancer. I put rubber snakes in his sleeping bag and called him Johnny B. Nerdballs. Market research has told him that he needs a girlfriend for an important business trip and gala event. He says he doesn’t want to bring someone that he has to impress or make an effort with, so he thought of me and figures I could use a nice vacation from my life right about now. He is one cocky nerd. Even if he’s right. I need the money and he can actually help me with my career, but I think he needs to be schooled in the art of treating a lady right. Lucky for him, I am just the woman to finally teach him…Turns out his total lack of social skills does not correspond to a lack of skills in the bedroom. At all. He even teaches me a few new tricks. Every time he opens his obnoxious mouth I can’t believe this guy’s for real. Every time he touches me, every time he reminds me of who I was before I started to lose myself in the big city, I can’t believe that what we have right now is fake. I’m afraid that by the end of the month either I will have punched him in the face, or the last man on earth I ever thought I’d fall in love with will have broken my heart. Or both. COCKY NERD is a standalone older brother’s best friend / fake relationship romantic comedy with a real sexy nerd, real laughs, real steam and a real happy ending. Brainy is the new sexy!

TO: Alex Vega FROM: Emilia Stiles SUBJECT: Hello Dear Mr. Vega, I felt it necessary to follow up on today’s meeting, since we weren’t able to speak candidly in front of your son. I was shocked to discover that you are Ryder’s dad. Given that your ex-wife will be out of the country for a while and you are currently his primary caregiver, I’m sure you understand why we need to establish boundaries and etiquette. I think it would be best if we just pretend that we met in person for the first time today. Your son is a very bright (flirtatious and talkative) student and since his education is a top priority for both of us, I hope I can count on you to respectfully refrain from grinning at me, using that sexy tone of voice, and undressing me with your annoyingly beautiful brown eyes if we should happen to interact with each other again in the future. Thanks so much, Miss Stiles TO: Emilia Stiles FROM: Alex Vega SUBJECT: Re: Well, hello again… Dear Miss Stiles, Great to hear from you. My son’s education is indeed a top priority. As such, I respectfully agree to refrain from doing all of the aforementioned things. However, I can’t promise to stop thinking about that kiss at the bar this summer. I’ve been thinking about it for the past month. It’s interesting how humorless and uptight you are about my son’s totally awesome personality, given that I have personally witnessed just how flirtatious and talkative you yourself can be when mildly intoxicated. You’re so welcome, Alex P.S. I volunteered to be a chaperone for your next field trip. See you then.

You might think the problem would be waking up in Vegas, hungover, next to a beautiful woman who’s wearing your boxer briefs and finding out ya married her in the middle of an epic drunken night of festivities. But you’d be wrong. I, Nolan Cassidy, international charmer and maker of mischief have fallen head over heels for Cora Delaney. I want to be married to the lass. So you might think the problem would be that she wants an annulment. But again you’d be wrong—stop getting it so wrong. I, Nolan Cassidy, with my devil tongue and Irish accent, will no doubt change her mind. Does the problem lie in that she has a son who doesn't like me and is as clever and crafty as I? Or that I’ve only got one month—until St. Patrick’s Day—to prove to my one true love that I can be a good husband and father? C’mere and I’ll tell ya… None of that is the problem. I’m a problem. My boxing days may be behind me but the fight never left me. When I see something I want, I get it. And nothing is going to stand in my way. Not my new wife’s hesitation nor her son’s doubts. So buckle up, strap in. Because I’m no longer in the business of wanting. I’m in the business of having. Which is gonna make for one wild Paddy’s Day.

#99 Dash Taylor. Rookie defensive end for the Boston Tomcats. 285 pounds of fast-twitch muscle. Nickname: Big D. I’ve been sacking quarterbacks since junior high and causing trouble since I was born. My college coach thinks I have a bad attitude, so he makes me take ballet lessons as punishment. If I don’t turn things around on the field next season, he’ll bench me. I have no idea what ballet has to do with football, but it turns out the real punishment is that the beautiful dance teacher refuses to get involved with me. Two years later, we cross paths again, and it’s not the other team’s offensive line who brings me to my knees—it’s a hundred-pound ballerina. She doesn’t think I’m boyfriend material, and I used to think that too. I’ve been a beast on the field and in the bedroom, but now I’m going to prove that I can be a man for her…and for our surprise baby. I thought I was all about the smash and dash. But getting Charlie Bardot pregnant changed everything.

It may be a creative marriage made in heaven, but Erin Duffy is cordially inviting Scott Braddock to go to hell… ERIN: There are millions of guys in L.A. so I why do I keep bumping into my nemesis Scott Braddock? He’s hot. He’s rich. He’s cocky. I’ve been competitive with him as a writer since college, and my former dormmate lost her mind after he had hot sex with her. He is nothing but trouble for me. Now we keep going to the same weddings, and I keep accidentally hooking up with him. But I will not let the fact that he’s mind-blowing in bed make me lose my head. I came to Hollywood to be a successful screenwriter, and I will let nothing stand in my way. Especially not naked Scott Braddock. SCOTT: Ever since college, there have been two things I’ve wanted more than anything—to be a successful screenwriter and to date Erin Duffy. She's a pain in the ass, and I want her to be MY pain in the ass. I screwed things up with Erin big time at school, but now our agents want us to work together and I have the chance to make things right. It’s going to take everything I’ve got to win her over and have the kind of career we would both kill for, but I will do whatever it takes—on both coasts, at the computer, on the dance floor, in bed...I will rewrite every scene until we get our happy ending. THE WEDDING SEASON is a standalone steamy new adult romantic comedy, the third novel in the Work Less, Play More series. It's an enemies to lovers romantic comedy that works! *** Over 52,000 words. All books in the series have different protagonists and can be read as standalones. All of the books have no cheating, no cliffhangers, no gluten, tons of added hormones, and come with HEAs! The Wedding Season is a bit steamier than The Workation and The Flirtation, as the author has had to cope with colder weather than she is used to...

I like my men like I like my tea--HOT and BRITISH. I love my job. The more time I spend working to make my wealthy clients’ financial dreams come true, the easier it is to ignore the shocking reality that there’s no one in New York that I’m even remotely interested in dating and that my sister is convinced my overused vibrator is going to destroy my lady parts. Better yet—I actually get paid to Skype with Luke Mason (aka Sir Flirty McFlirtson) a hot British business consultant in London who dampens my knickers and makes me want to lick my computer screen. But now our mutual client has invited us both to a private villa in the Bahamas for our first face-to-face meeting. When there’s no longer an ocean separating us, I’m afraid he’ll either find out what a dork I really am—or—this international merger will heat up in ways that neither of us were expecting to deal with. THE FLIRTATION is a standalone steamy romantic comedy, the second book in the Work Less, Play More series. It’s a transatlantic romantic comedy that works! ***This novel is over 50,000 words

When twentysomethings Molly Kidd and Ryan Murphy formed a startup company in Seattle three years ago, they agreed that they were perfect for each other—as business partners. Molly made the they will never date each other, they will never talk about their personal lives, they will never visit each other’s homes. Fortunately, they have so much fun spending so much time working together at the office that they barely have time to do or talk about anything else anyway. Now that it’s winter and everyone at their small successful company is overworked and grumpy, Murphy gets this crazy idea that they should all take a work vacation at a resort in Hawaii. Yes, the woman who organizes the workations at this resort happens to be gorgeous, but Murphy believes it will benefit the whole team to have more work-life balance. Molly refuses to admit that she’s intimidated by the thought of the most important guy in her life falling for this perfect lady, so she agrees to the trip despite being equally uncomfortable with the idea of relaxing in a bikini in front of her coworkers. Turns out it’s impossible to draw a line between business and pleasure in the sands of Oahu, and giving in to temptation could lead Molly and Murphy to lose more than just their hearts. But would it be worth it? THE WORKATION is a standalone, the first in the Work Less, Play More series. It's a friends to lovers romantic comedy that works!

A former model, a grumpy lawyer, and a single dad walk into an audition for a children's musical… They’re all Miles Brodie. It’s only cute if you aren’t the director who’s being bribed to cast his daughter.DEAR MS. CROSS, Our discussion1. True. Casting my daughter as the lead in your musical could be considered bribery if people find out I’m investing in it, but no one needs to know.2. I only want to hire you as Macy’s singing coach so her vocal skills will improve.3. Maybe if you’d spent less time surfing and more on your singing career, you wouldn’t be in this financial predicament.4. Re. your living situation—my neighbor has a guest house. If you cast Macy as Alice, I will pay for your first three months’ rent.Do we have a deal?Best regards,Miles BrodieDEAR MR. BRODIE,1. It absolutely is bribery, but I absolutely need that money for my production. Thanks!2. It is very cute that you will do anything to get Macy this part, but I would only coach that sweet child as a favor to all mammals with functional hearing.3. If I spend less time surfing, will you spend less time jogging on my beach with your shirt off?4. You want to pay me to live next door so you don’t have to drive anywhere to frown at me?5. I have another condition for casting Macy as Alice—you have to perform the part of the Cheshire Cat.Purrrrrrr,Aria* This is a 70,000 word standalone steamy romantic comedy novel.

VIVIAN: I’m in hell. Three months ago I got dumped and it sent me into a downward spiral of red wine and pie. Now my Type A sister is getting married and she’s hired me a personal trainer so I can look respectable standing next to her as the maid of honor. The good news: she’s paying for the hottest hard-ass personal trainer in town. The bad news: he used to be the fat kid at my high school, the one my popular friends bullied. He was my friend, the first boy I'd ever kissed, and he claimed I broke his heart. The worst news: He is now the hottest man I have ever known, still hasn't forgiven me, and I have never wanted anyone more in my life. But I can’t erase the past any easier than I can get rid of those stubborn last five pounds. BRAD: A fat boy’s best revenge is to work out, get hot, and then get all the women. In high school, I only wanted one girl. Fate has brought her to my gym, and I am going to make her feel the burn like she’s never felt it before. My plan is to torture her with ab work, get her to fall for me, then blow her off and break her heart, like she did to me. But she’s making it so damned hard…to do that last part. I hope she doesn’t figure out that deep down I’m still Fat Brad, the book nerd who eats his feelings and would do anything just to kiss her. Every Inch of You is a standalone funny sexy second chance romance with lots of laughs, plenty of steam, an HEA, no cheating, no cliffhanger. It'll work your heart, your core and your glutes!

WES When I was a kid, my dad was the gardener for the richest man in town. His daughter, Lily Barnes, told me she could never like a guy like me. Then she kissed me and told me it would never happen again. When it happened again, she told me she could never love me because she was going to leave this place, and I would never leave my dad. We were never quite friends, not exactly enemies, and we could never quite stop secretly kissing each other. She never said goodbye before running off to try to make it as an actress. That was her dream, and I wanted her to chase it. Okay, maybe I hated her for it, just a little. Now she’s back, with no money and even more sass. A lot has changed around here … except for my hidden feelings about Lily Barnes. LILY So, it turns out I’m a terrible actress and now I’m back! When my father offers me a job at his company, I actually think he’s finally decided I’m worthy of one day taking over the family business. Imagine my surprise when I find out that the gardener’s son is the one who’s being groomed to take over, and I’ve been assigned to work for him. Wes Carver has always been rich in confidence and abs, but now he’s rich in everything, including disdain for yours truly. If he thinks I’m not built to work, he’s wrong. If he thinks he can boss me around just because he’s my boss, he’s delusional. If he thinks I’m still the girl who could never love him … I may be a better actress than anyone thought.

Millions of women all over the world would drop their knickers for British movie star Evan Hunter. Now he’s falling for the one American woman who won’t…Yet.Everyone on Main Street has been talking about Evan Hunter, the British movie star who’ll be filming on location in our small Pacific Northwest town for a couple of months, and all I have to say about that “Who?”When he shows up two weeks early to escape the London paparazzi after breaking up with some starlet, all I want to know “So?”When he walks into the gym that I manage for my dad and brothers, to start training for the action scenes in his movie, I’ll admit I do say to “Hmmm…”But he’s not my type. I’ll take a fireman or a lumberjack over a pretty actor any day—I don’t care how blue his eyes are, how chiseled his features or how crackling our chemistry has been from the first “hello.”Okay, so it turns out Mr. Charming and Sophisticated isn’t quite the polite English gentleman when we’re alone together in private. He may, in fact, be a filthy-mouthed sex god. He may, impossibly, have his sights set on me.Obviously, there’s only one way for me to prove to him that I’m immune to this British actor nonsense. I’m going to prove it to him so hard.But I have rules for flings with out-of-towners and I will continue to enforce them, even with ridiculously beautiful international film stars. Even though he gets along so well with my family. Even though we somehow seem to understand each other in ways that no one else ever could. Even if he makes me wonder what it’s like out there in the world outside of this coastal paradise I’ve always called home.I’m staying right where I am, no matter where he claims to want to take me with him when he leaves. Every time he says “Hello Darling,” all I hear “goodbye heart.”

Rockstar Starter Guide: 1. Get guitar. Get good. 2. Find that girl who drives you out of your damn mind. 3. Make sure that girl refuses to be with you so you’ll have endless material for songs. 4. Get tricked by your brother and her best friend into getting stuck with her in a remote cabin on a stormy night—with only one bed. 5. Decide if it’s better to keep playing your game or risk losing her forever. Vera Kruger has dyed her hair every color of the rainbow and she’s turned two very important parts of me blue for as long as I’ve known her. She’s so deep under my skin that she’s a part of me, just like the small town we grew up in. No matter where I go on tour, she’s the one I wish I could come home to. Even if it’s to argue with her about absolutely anything. When I return to Beacon Harbor for the holidays, I’m not a screwup anymore. I could give her every single thing she won’t admit she needs. Vera thinks we’re too messed up to work together—we just need to get each other out of our systems. The truth is she is my system. Now the girl who’s always been hard on me is going to have a hard time getting rid of me. And I will fight with her every infuriating step of the way until she figures out I’m never going to leave her.

People in this small town are whispering… What they’re saying is that the billionaire is back and he’s going after his best friend’s sister. What I’m trying to do is help Claire Sweeney’s bakery business. What I haven’t been able to admit to myself is that in all this time, no matter how hard I tried, I never forgot her. Now she’s all grown up. I can’t stop thinking about her muffin. Or how guilty I feel when I fantasize about buttering it. Claire has always been as much a part of Beacon Harbor as the hanging flower baskets, the boat tours, and the lobster races. She has no idea how beautiful I think she is. Even when she has flour on her face. Even when she’s rolling her eyes at me. I’ve got her brother’s approval, but now it’s Claire that I really have to convince. She doesn’t believe we have the right ingredients for a real relationship—so she only agrees to pretend to be my girlfriend to help me close a deal in New York. I believe she’s about to discover exactly how I roll when I know what I want. And what I want is her.

Love changes people. I’m the first to admit that I, Keaton Bridges, used to be an immature, entitled ass. Okay, maybe I’m the second to admit it—after Roxy Carter. That loudmouth. But I’ve seen what true love has done for my friends, and I want it for myself. Somehow, I’m the only single guy left. Somehow, she’s the only single girl. The only time Foxy Roxy hasn’t been a loudmouth? That time we were making out at our best friends’ wedding. And every time we’ve seen each other in the five years since then, because she refuses to talk about it. Well, she’s going to have to talk to me now. It’s the dead of winter, and our six best friends were planning a getaway at a Caribbean couples-only resort. One of the couples had to drop out, and I refuse to be left out in the cold. All Roxy and I have to do is pretend to be in love for one week so we can spend some much-needed time with our favorite people. And all I have to do is pretend I’m not dying to kiss her again.

CHASE The first time I saw Aimee Gilpin walk into a bar, it was love at first sight. She looks nothing like the women I usually go for, and everything like the woman I’d want to come home to every night. Then my best friend showed up and I had to let him pursue her. It was the right thing to do as a friend and business partner, but the wrong thing to do for my heart. The second time I see Aimee walk into a bar, she has finally convinced my friend that she isn’t interested, and I was planning on drinking myself into oblivion to avoid calling her. She probably thinks I hate her. I tried to. Tomorrow I’ll deal with my best friend and the company we built with his money and my brains. Tonight, she’s mine. AIMEE The first time I saw Chase McKay at a bar, I thought I’d met the man of my dreams—I just didn’t recall the man of my dreams looking like the lead singer of a grunge band. Then as soon his friend showed up, Chase bolted like I was his worst nightmare. The second time I see him in a bar, I can tell by the look in his eyes that we both regret his choice that first night. He has no idea that I just started working for the company that their company is about to start working with. I don’t want to make things any more complicated than they already are, but I do want him like nobody’s business. Tomorrow we’ll deal with the fact that Chase, his best friend and I will be working together. Tonight, he’s mine.