Melanie Harlow

Jack Valentini isn’t my type.  Sexy, brooding cowboys are fine in the movies, but in real life, I prefer a suit and tie. Proper manners. A close shave. Jack might be gorgeous, but he’s also scruffy, rugged, and rude. He wants nothing to do with a “rich city girl” like me, and he isn’t afraid to say so. But I’ve got a PR job to do for his family’s farm, so he’s stuck with me and I’m stuck with him. His glares. His moods. His tight jeans. His muscles. His huge, hard muscles. Pretty soon there’s a whole different kind of tension between us, the kind that has me misbehaving in barns, trees, and pickup trucks. I’ve never done anything so out of character—but it feels too good to stop. And the more I learn about the grieving ex-Army sergeant, the better I understand him. Losing his wife left him broken and bitter and blaming himself. He doesn’t think he deserves a second chance at happiness. But he’s wrong. I don’t need to be his first love. If only he’d let me be his last.

Austin Buckley Yes, I’m a single dad who needs a nanny for the summer. But hire the stranded runaway bride who shows up on my doorstep in a wedding gown with no references, no skills, and no experience? No one is that desperate. Except within twenty-four hours, down-on-her-luck Veronica Sutton manages to charm my kids, my family, and half the population of Cherry Tree Harbor into believing she’s perfect for the job. And for me. It’s not that I can’t see the appeal–those baby blue eyes? The endless legs? That mouth made for trouble? But I’ve got enough on my plate, raising two kids on my own and keeping the family business alive. I don’t have the time or the inclination to fall for an outspoken city girl. So I should have kept my hands to myself. Holding her in my arms was a big mistake. Even worse? Spending the night together. She ignites a possessive fire in me that I’m finding hard to snuff out. But the most unforgivable? Growing attached to the sound of her laugh, the scent of her skin, and the way her body wraps around mine in the dark. At the end of the summer, she’ll be gone. And if I’m not careful, she might run away with my heart.

Christmas in Chicago has never been so warm ... My Christmas list did not include a broken heart, freezing temperatures, or my tree stuck in the door to my apartment complex, but that's what I got. Just when I thought Santa had failed me, I got something I never thought to ask for ... him. This is a fun Christmas novella that was originally available in the Christmas in the City anthology!

Only in the movies does the Hollywood heartthrob fall for the small town diner waitress. So when Dashiel Buckley returns to Cherry Tree Harbor for a wedding, I’m determined not to let my massive crush on my best friend’s older brother hijack my good sense. (It happened once before. Do not recommend.) But when my hand is injured, it’s Dash who steps in at the diner. The moment he realizes I can’t afford to fix my car, he takes care of it. And when he hears about the way my toxic ex treated me, he refuses to let it go. Now it’s not just his blue eyes and sexy smile that have me swooning, it’s the way he wants to help me. Encourage me. Protect me. I can’t resist. Our text messages heat up. Our phone calls melt all my defenses. “Just friends” turns into “just once,” and “just once” becomes a distant memory. Night after night, he warms my bed, my body, and my heart. But it can’t last. Our dreams have us on two different paths–Dash wants the lights, camera, action of Hollywood, and I’ll always be a small town girl. If only I could be his.

Fall in love with my enemy? No way. Marry him to save my family’s struggling ski resort? That’s a different story… Getting hitched is the only way I can inherit Snowberry Lodge, and I’ll do anything to spare my childhood home from the wrecking ball–even wear Devlin Buckley’s ring on my finger. Not that I’ll enjoy it. Sure, he’s charming and handsome, and that no-last-names one night stand we shared ended with a fantastically big bang (I saw stars I hadn’t seen in six months, if you catch my drift). But I’ll never trust him–he was working for the company trying to bulldoze my life. Right up until the day he knocked on my door with an offer I couldn’t refuse. Marry him, and he’ll help me restore my family’s crumbling resort to its former glory–and get revenge on his ex-boss in the process. Once our goals are achieved, we’ll go our separate ways. It’s temporary. Strictly business. Purely for show. Until I realize how much I like it when he says "my wife." Once we’re sharing a last name–and a bed–our make-believe match starts to feel a little too real. And if I’m not careful, I could lose everything… my home, my dreams, and my heart.

All I wanted was a break–two weeks off from being Pixie Hart, country music sensation, and fourteen days of peace, privacy, and solitude as plain old Kelly Jo Sullivan. But thanks to some overzealous paparazzi, my family refuses to let me go anywhere alone, and I’m stuck sharing this tiny cabin with a tall, dark, and bearded stranger. And guess what? There’s only one bed. Well, he can couch it. Xander Buckley might be hotter than a stolen blow torch, and I get that he’s a former Navy SEAL and all, but the man gives new meaning to the words overbearing, overprotective, bossy alpha male. I can’t even post a photo on social media without him warning me it’s not safe, or take a morning jog without him following behind. But he’s made it clear that what he says goes, and if I don’t like it, I can kiss my vacation goodbye. Instead, I end up kissing him. I don’t even know how it happened–one minute we were at each other’s throats, the next we were at each other’s mercy. What’s even more shocking is how good we are together. He understands my need for freedom, and I understand his need for control. But emotional trust doesn’t come easily to me. And we’re on two completely different paths. Without question, I’d put my life in his hands. Just don’t ask me to give him my heart.

Back then, I had it all. Wicked fastball. Killer instinct. Cocky grin. Full package. (And believe me, I knew how to score.) My senior year, I was a first round draft pick with a two-million-dollar signing bonus. Before I could even legally buy myself a beer, I made my Major League debut. Point is, I was invincible. Until one day I wasn’t. After tanking my career—during the World Series, no less—the last thing I want to do is return to my hometown, where every jerk in a ball cap has an opinion about what went wrong with my arm. So when my sister drags me back to town for her wedding, I vow to get in and out of there as quickly as possible. Then I run into April Sawyer. In high school we were just friends, but I’d always wanted her, and I’d never forgotten her—the red hair, the incredible smile, the crazy, reckless thing we did in the back of my truck the night we said goodbye. It’s been eighteen years, but one look at her and I feel like my old self again. I can still make her laugh, she can still take me down a notch, and when the chemistry between us explodes, it’s even hotter this time around—and I don’t want it to end. But just when I think I’m ready to let go of the past and get back in the game, life throws me a curveball I never saw coming.

In hindsight, I should not have had that fifth mimosa at Breakfast with Santa.  Or the sixth, seventh, and eighth. But my shame over the public meltdown that resulted was nothing compared to being abandoned by my husband of fifteen years for a much younger woman—and did I mention she’s pregnant? For the sake of my children and my pride, I packed up and headed for my childhood home and the small town where I grew up. Cloverleigh Farms would be the perfect place for a fresh start. Falling for Henry DeSantis wasn’t part of the plan. Sure, he’s easy on the eyes and hard in the bedroom (also the hallway, the bathtub, and on top of his desk), but he’s newly divorced too, and things between us are moving so fast I’m afraid neither one of us has had enough time to heal. Not to mention the fact that I’m a single mom now—my kids have to come first. But Henry makes me feel beautiful and sexy and wanted and strong—I haven’t felt that way in years. We understand each other, and when I’m in his arms, I’m tempted to trust again. To love again. To let myself be loved without fear. But deep down, I’m terrified. Is this all too much, too soon? Or am I a fool to let a second chance at happily ever after pass me by?

When we were eleven, Oliver Ford Pemberton dared me to jump off a barn roof. He said you couldn’t break a leg from a 12-foot-jump. He lied. (You can also break a collarbone, which served him right as far as I was concerned.) I wish I could say it was the last dare I ever took from him, the last bet I ever made with him, the last time I ever trusted Oliver Ford Pemberton. But it wasn’t. Because he had the nerve to grow up gorgeous, charming, and sexy. And as we got older, the dares only got dirtier—and the betting stakes higher—until finally, he left me in pieces. I swore I’d never talk to him again. But twenty years after I took that flying leap, he’s back in my life, daring me to risk everything for him: my job, my self-worth, and my heart. How many chances does love deserve?

You’ve heard the story about the wedding planner who falls for the groom? Well, this is the one where she falls for his father. And that groom? He’s my ex. I didn’t realize who the gruff, gorgeous older man was the night he rescued me from a creep in a Manhattan hotel. All I knew was that a hot, bearded stranger with a protective streak showed up right when I needed a reminder that real gentlemen still exist. (Although he left his manners behind after asking me up to his room.) It was the hottest night of my life, but I never thought I’d see the former Navy SEAL again. Imagine my surprise at the rehearsal dinner one week later, when my handsome stranger is introduced as the father of the groom. Even more surprising? What we felt in New York was no fluke. In public, we pretend there’s nothing between us. In private, we can’t keep our hands off each other. The situation is beyond complicated. Zach never even knew he’d fathered a child until recently, and he wants to earn his son’s trust and respect. As for me, I’m looking for a man who wants to start a family, and Zach has made it clear he’s not that man. He’s older, newly divorced, and he lives across the country. But no matter how many times we draw the line, we keep crossing it. Nothing so wrong should ever feel so right.

I didn’t mean to see him naked--it was an accident. It had to be, right? Because Noah McCormick and I have never been anything more than friends. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never once laid a finger on me. And even though he was a cute lifeguard at 16 and a hotter-than-hell sheriff’s deputy at 34, he's always been that protective guy I could trust to keep his hands to himself. I never wanted to mess with that. Until I walked in on him getting out of the shower and saw his hard, muscular body totally bare and dripping wet. At that moment I never wanted to mess with anything so badly in my entire life.  I should have covered my eyes. Said I was sorry. At the very least, I could have handed him a towel. After all, I was only in town for a few days, and he was just doing me a favor by escorting me to my sister’s wedding. It wasn’t a real date.  But I didn’t apologize. And he didn’t cover up. (Talk about a hot mess.) After all those years of being just friends, suddenly we’re insatiable. He’s made it clear he’s not interested in romance. Which is fine with me because  I’ve got a plane ticket back to my real life at the end of the week.  It’s all in fun...or is it?

The last person on earth I want to be stranded with is Gianni Lupo. But thanks to the blizzard of the century, I’m trapped in a roadside motel room with that cocky bastard for two straight days. With one small bed. Some women might thank Mother Nature for delivering a polar vortex that maroons them with six feet of solid muscle, those deep blue eyes, that sexy grin--but not me. I’ve known Gianni Lupo all my life, and he’s never brought me anything but bad luck and trouble. So when the tension between us explodes with enough fiery heat to melt my icy defenses, I should have known what the disastrous end result would be-- A big fat plus sign. After the snow melts, I’m left with more than just memories of the night we spent keeping each other warm. And he might be a rising star on the culinary scene, but he’s got no idea how to handle this bun in the oven. He says he wants to do the right thing, but I’m not about to spend the rest of my life feeling like someone settled for me. But just when I think I’ve got Gianni Lupo all figured out, he gives me a taste of the man he could be, of the family we could become, of the way he could love me if I let him. I’m terrified of falling for him. But one taste might be all it takes.

My new neighbor is a firefighter—and a scorching hot single dad—but I swear I didn’t set off that smoke alarm on purpose. (And I was beyond mortified when he rushed in and saw me naked.) Nothing happened, of course—because I, Winnie MacAllister, romance junkie and owner of a constantly broken heart, have sworn off men for one solid year. Even protective men with chiseled jaws, bulging biceps, and deep brown eyes that make my breath come faster. Even former SEALs with broad chests and strong hands that make my skin sizzle. Even gorgeous, grumpy guys who have their hands full raising two adorable little girls and claim they don’t believe in love. Until Dex kisses me one night, and I drop all my defenses. (Also my underwear.) He says he’s not gentle, and he’s right. He says I should take the dream job I’m offered in another state, and he’s right. He says he’s too old for me and could never be the man I deserve. He’s wrong. Dex and I might be twelve years apart, but the fire between us is the kind that will never burn out. How can I convince him to give happily-ever-after with me a chance?

Felicity I didn’t mean to say I was engaged to a hot billionaire–it just slipped out. In my defense, I’d had a really bad haircut, a really strong drink, and I was trying to save face in front of the Mean Girl at my high school reunion. Lucky for me, I happen to know a hot billionaire. Hutton French and I have been friends forever, and even though big social gatherings are not his thing, I called him from the coat closet and begged him for a favor–show up and play my fake fiancé for the night. Except that word of our engagement spreads like wildfire. Our families are ecstatic. We’re front page news. My little food blog is launched into the stratosphere. Of course, I offer to set the record straight right away, but Hutton wants to give it a little time–the phony engagement is keeping his matrimony-mad mother and every matchmaking granny in town off his back. He even suggests I move in with him to make the ruse more real. And we don’t stop there. We practice kissing. Undressing each other. Saying things–and doing things–we’d never dare if we weren’t pretending. Because it’s all for show, right? We’re just role-playing. Hutton doesn’t want a real relationship, and I don’t want to get hurt. But the more time we spend faking it, the more I start to wonder. Could Hutton French and I actually be right for each other, or is it all just one big tease?

He’s my brother’s best friend. The hot single dad next door. And one accidental sext later, my massive crush on him is no longer a secret. It’s my own damn fault. I’m thirty years old, for heaven’s sake. I’m a kindergarten teacher and a (reasonably) responsible adult. I should know better than to get tipsy and draft a fake text listing all the dirty things I wish Officer Cole Mitchell would do to me. I wasn’t supposed to hit send. He wasn’t supposed to see it. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to text back telling me to go on . . . Because after that, things escalate quickly. Cole is everything I’ve ever wanted. He’s sexy and protective. A devoted father to his little girl. A dedicated cop the whole town adores. The kind of guy you can trust to keep his hands to himself, even when you’re desperately hoping he won’t. I’m not the girl he thought he’d end up with, but after all this time, I might finally get the chance to say the words I’ve always dreamed of . . . make me yours.

I’m a full-time single dad to three daughters and CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. I don’t have time to fall in love—I’m too busy trying to run a business, keep the red socks out of the white laundry, and get the damn pillowcases on without owing a dollar to the swear jar. Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s twenty-seven, the boss’s daughter, and my new part-time nanny—which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her, what kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her? (Exactly the kind of jerk you’re thinking.) Actually, I’m worse than that—because I didn’t stop with a kiss, and now I can’t stay away.  She makes me feel like myself again. She reminds me what it’s like to want something just for me. She’s everything I ever needed, but nothing I ever imagined. I’m a former Marine. I should have had the strength to resist her from the start. But I didn’t. And now I have to choose between the life I want and the life she deserves. Even if it means giving her up.

Theo MacLeod wasn’t supposed to be the one. Tall, dark and handsome suits me just fine, but the cocky grin, know-it-all attitude, and mammoth ego? No thanks. I only hired him so I wouldn’t have to sit at the singles table again. It was just pretend. He wasn’t supposed to kiss me. My heart wasn’t supposed to pound. We weren’t supposed to spend the night together—the hottest night of my life. One night turns into a snowed-in weekend away, and even the blizzard of the century can’t cool the fire between us. I can’t get enough—of his smile, of his body, of the way he makes me feel. We’re nothing alike. He’s a daredevil, and I’m a nervous Nellie. He’s a drifter, and I want to put down roots. He’s an opportunist with a checkered past, and I’m a Girl Scout volunteer. But none of it matters when I’m in his arms. I know he’s made mistakes. I know his wounds are deep, and he doesn’t trust easily. I know he doesn’t believe he could ever be enough to make me happy, but he could. All he has to do is stay.

Sometimes your first love deserves a second chance. He was my first crush, my first kiss, my first everything. But I’m not a lovesick teenager anymore, and I’d never let that cocky troublemaker break my heart again. So when he shows up out of the blue asking me to have dinner with him “for old time’s sake,” I say I will. After all, it’s been twelve years, and I’m stronger and smarter than I was back then. Except…he still does something to me. He’s got those eyes that make me weak, those hands that drive me wild, and a body I can’t resist—especially once I see the tattoos. It doesn’t take long for our trip down memory lane to go from sweet to sizzling. We’re just as good together as we were back then—better, even—and I’m willing to give the only man I’ve ever loved another chance. But he’s got to tell me the truth. * * * All I wanted was to see her again. Tell her I’m sorry. Make her smile. Okay, that’s a lie. I wanted to do more than that—a lot more. But I know she’s better off without me, and I promised myself I’d behave. Except I’ve never been much good at keeping promises…or my hands to myself when I’m around her. I can make her laugh, I can make her cry, I can make her body surrender to mine in ways that neither of us could have imagined back then. I can—and I do—love her more than she’ll ever know. But I can’t tell her the real reason why I’m here. And I can’t stay.

Just friends. That’s all Beckett Weaver and I have ever been. Sure, he’s a hot cowboy who left Wall Street behind to take over his family’s ranch. Yes, I’ve had a secret crush on him since we were seventeen. And who wouldn’t appreciate those strong hands, that massive chest, and the way he fills out a pair of Levis? He makes a girl sweat just looking at him . . . and I look. A lot. But I’m a single mom trying to move on with my life, and he’s running that ranch single-handedly while taking care of his elderly father. We don’t even live in the same state. I only returned to my hometown of Bellamy Creek to sell my late mother’s house, and he just invited me and my son to stay with him because he’s got a big heart. That’s not the only big thing he’s got--which I discover the night I finally sneak across the hall to his bedroom and shed my inhibitions right alongside my pajamas. And once we give into each other, we can’t stop. The hayloft. The bed of his truck. The dock by the pond. Nothing has ever felt so right, but his past has taught him not to believe in happily ever after, and every perfect night I spend in his arms brings us closer to goodbye. Like any cowboy, he’s good with a rope and knows exactly how to tie me up. But what if I want him to tie me down?

It was the perfect plan. I needed a wife—temporarily—in order to inherit the family business. And she needed a favor—the kind that takes nine months to deliver. We had it all worked out, from the no-touching policy on our wedding night (her rule) to the no-falling-in-love decree (mine). She’d marry me, I’d give her the means to have the baby she’d always wanted, and one year later we’d amicably part ways with no hassle, no demands, and certainly no regrets. After all, Bianca DeRossi and I are experts at infuriating one another—we’ve been doing it since we were kids. Trouble is, she grew up gorgeous and feisty, and she still knows exactly how to get under my skin. And that wedding night? Well, it doesn’t exactly go down hands-free. Then she moves in with me, and I really start to lose my mind. From her sexy little pout to her wicked sense of humor to those meatball sandwiches she makes just because she knows they’re my favorite . . . I find myself wanting to break every rule we put in place. Our story was never supposed to end with happily ever after. But call me crazy, I just might be in love with my wife.

When Blair Beaufort literally crashes into Bellamy Creek wearing a ball gown and a tiara, I should have towed her car, said goodnight, and sent her packing. I’m a mechanic, not a hotel manager. I've got enough on my plate trying to keep my shop from going under, my overbearing mother off my back, and my baseball team in contention for the league championship. I don’t have time for a former debutante with zero street smarts and a cash flow problem, even if she is crazy beautiful. Problem is, she’s stranded in my small town, and I’m hiding a protective streak underneath my grumpy exterior that runs deep. So I offer her a place to stay and keep my hands to myself. For exactly one night. If only she weren't so gorgeous. So funny. So eager to please. She’s a disaster behind the wheel, but she drives me wild without even trying--at work, at home, in the back of my truck . . . I can’t get enough of the way she makes me feel. But I know better than to think it can last. She wants a fairy tale, and I’m no prince. So when it comes time for her to leave, there’s nothing I can do but let her go. No matter how much it hurts to say goodbye.