Derrick Bright’s baseball career may be over, but his brother’s is just starting—until a scandal threatens to end things. PR specialist Anne McGrath hasn’t spoken to Derrick since he left her eleven years ago. But she agrees to help for his brother’s sake. Escaping the press in Pacific Cove allows them to reconnect. Will she accept Derrick’s vow and make his Christmas dreams finally come true?
“I didn’t even know you were participating in the auction until I saw the program tonight. Before I could find you myself, a friend introduced me to Todd, and Todd asked if I’d be willing to meet you…” Derrick’s mouth pulled up on one side like he was trying not to smile. He was all boyish innocence and every bit as appealing as Anne remembered as he added, “He, uh, he actually asked me if I’d flirt with you a little.”
Anne choked out a surprised laugh. “Thank you for sparing us both that awkwardness.”
Grinning, he assured her, “It wouldn’t be awkward for me.” His gaze traveled down and settled on a spot. “You have a little smudge of something on your dress. Let me guess—ice cream?”
She frowned. A combination of embarrassment and discomfort blazed through her. How dare he draw on their former intimacy like this?
Glancing down, she tugged clumsily on her wrap and thought up a lie. “No, it’s, um…oil.”
“Oil?” he repeated skeptically.
“Yep.” She shrugged and stared him down. “Moonlighting on the oil rig.”
He started to smile, to call her out, but then seemed to pick up on her back-off signal. He cleared his throat and composed his features. “How have you been, Anne?”
“For all eleven of the years it’s been since I’ve seen you?” She heard the clear edge in her voice. There was a chance she hadn’t gotten over this quite as well as she’d believed. But you know what? What he’d done had been really…hurtful, and perhaps she was still a tad angry. Now that she thought about it, there was no rule stating she had to make this reunion easy on him.
USA Today and national bestselling author Carol Ross grew up in small-town America right between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains, in a place where you can go deep sea fishing in the morning and then hit the ski slopes the same afternoon. The daughter of free-range parents, she developed a love of adventure and the outdoors at a very early age. She’s grateful for the “research material” that every questionable decision, adrenaline-charged misstep, and near-death experience has provided.
Title: A Christmas Love Song Author: Andee Reilly Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance
He gave her a song. She gave him Christmas.
Once a huge pop star, Jake Wilder hasn’t written a hit song in over ten years. Stuck playing small-time venues where only his most dedicated fans remember him, a comeback seems improbable. But even those gigs are quickly drying up, and if Jake doesn’t do something soon, he’ll slide into permanent has-been oblivion. In a twist of fate, a record executive with a soft spot for retro artists, holds a competition in search of pop musicians to write a new Christmas classic.
Longing to become a serious and respected journalist, Mackenzie Stone scoffs at her latest assignment to write a profile about a washed-up pop singer. She would prefer to cover hard news rather than light stories assigned by her editor who seems unwilling to give her a chance. Determined to write a noteworthy story and at the same time prove herself, it’s up to Mackenzie to help inspire Jake to compose a Christmas classic.
As Jake struggles to overcome his anxieties and write a great song, Mackenzie digs for a story of substance. Together they find love while also discovering the true meaning of Christmas.
Being on stage was as natural as breathing. When audiences rejected Jake for the next one-hit wonder, he had been devastated. He’d lost his purpose, a dragon slayer without a dragon to slay. That was when the stage fright took hold.
He glanced outside to clear his mind. Every time he started composing, bad memories crushed the good ones. Frustrated and annoyed, he let the unpolluted white field of snow become a metaphor for the clean slate that could be his mind.
Jake stretched his legs to get the creative juices flowing. From his pocket, he unfolded a piece of paper. It was probably a note he was supposed to give to Bodhi. To his surprise, the scribbles turned out to be a melody Jake had written in the middle of the night. Having woken from a dream hearing music, he wrote it down and stuck it into his pants pocket so he’d find it the next day. He’d completely forgotten about it.
Not half bad. He hummed the tune and tapped it out on the piano. His mind scrolled through the Christmas song canon like a jukebox filliping through its record selections. Settling on “Silent Night,” he played the world’s most popular Christmas song. He remembered his piano teacher told him in Austria, the song’s birthplace, “Silent Night” was only played on Christmas Eve to preserve its sacredness.
Next, he played “White Christmas,” hearing the words. “Just like the ones I used to know,” he whispered the lyrics. The song was sad, melancholic, and full of longing. Did he want to create that sort of mood?
Then there was Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” a fun, pop song about the love and happiness Christmas could bring. He had a terrible experience in that particular department and pushed the thought aside before he gave up completely.
Jake accidently kicked the pedal. The old discouraging feeling of defeat snaked through his body. A throbbing big toe and a bad attitude does not a Christmas song make.
He needed fresh air and found a jacket, heavier than the vegan leather one Mackenzie made fun of and a pair of gloves. Careful not to lock himself out, he unlatched the door and went outside.
Andee Reilly was born and raised in Los Angeles. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside, Palm Desert. After many years of teaching writing and literature at California State University, Channel Islands, Andee moved to Maui to pursue her dream of teaching at the University of Hawaii, writing full-time, and surfing the beautiful waves of Hawaii. To learn more, visit www.andeereilly.com
The life of Poppy, a struggling actress, is turned upside down when she witnesses the burial of an urn in her yard. Poppy gets entangled with the “dead girl,” Dalia, a Latina health guru, whose mourners show up in the yard, and whose criminal antics, ranging from Miami to New York to L.A., sent her into a witness protection program.
Why does Poppy agree to mourner manage Dalia’s burial site?
Dead Dalia’s fan club overwhelm Poppy with their visits, as do the dangerous signs of Dalia’s former life as healer and thief. Still, Poppy finds that wearing Dalia’s clothes bring her good luck in auditions and that Dalia’s luscious, Latin lovers are irresistible. Is Dalia really dead? Once Poppy is accused of complicity with Dalia’s crimes, she wants everything Dalia out of her life.
Just after I moved into the guesthouse, they buried a dead girl in my yard. That’s when my life turned upside down and inside out for the second time. The first time was when the doctors rearranged my colon.
I was thrilled to move into the Topanga Canyon guesthouse, a boho-chic area north of Los Angeles. I knew about Topanga from growing up in the nearby San Fernando Valley. Now, as a struggling, mostly unemployed actress, I was living in a shitty, Hollywood neighborhood. Although it was a cute, little bungalow, the environment was killing me—dirty, filthy, hot, too much traffic, zero fresh air, noisy and people living on the edge. Hollywood was no longer glamorous. And parking was a son of a bitch. Also, at age forty-six, I was done stepping over homeless people. Sorry-not-sorry, and I deserved different and better. Even though many times, I had been close to homeless myself.
The universe spoke when I met Lily Jin at a Hollywood acting workshop. She was an exotic-looking and a mixed something. A twenty-two-year-old gal, and a lite-Buddhist, like me. I usually do just enough chanting to keep the demons and gremlins away for the day.
Lily was wearing torn jeans over her long, model-like legs and a midriff exposing a flat, firm tummy. There was not an ounce of fat anywhere.
Oh, to be twenty again and be able to eat, drink, smoke and snort anything. That was several decades behind me. My five-six, lanky frame was getting flabby. Yes, even skinny people can get flabby. I was now in yucky perimenopause, with the last of my overcooked eggs dropping into withering fallopian tubes and heading down through my dried-up hoo-ha. Luckily, at first glance, you can’t tell this is happening unless you’re airport security staff.
My dirty blonde shoulder length hair only needed a bit of henna to hide the grey and my brown eyes were still bright and youthful. This helped my agent place me in the thirty-five-to-forty-five roles, despite being in my mid-forties.
To date, no surgery, minimal fillers and injectables. However, as I headed towards the half-century mark, I would revisit. In the meantime, I strove to sharpen my acting skills, and let gravity have its way with me.
While in the workshop, Lily and I tried following the acting exercise. As we were pretending to be wounded sheep during an alien invasion, Lily whispered to me, asking if I knew of anyone who wanted to rent her guesthouse. After the workshop, we went to the El Compadre on Sunset to discuss the details. We were served frozen skinny margs, then toasted each other and became besties in an instant. When Lily told me that the guesthouse was in Topanga Canyon, I shouted over the mariachi band, “I’ll take it, I’ll take it, I’ll take it!” Even sight unseen and not knowing the price, she had me at “Topanga Canyon.”
I had heard about Topanga. It was crawling with the famous and the has-beens who never were. The town was known for its eclectic artists and colorful history, including one of the Manson family murders. During the Hollywood golden age, it was the weekend getaway hotspot for the now-dead stars you can see on the Turner Classic Movie channel. It had changed, but still had some leftover glamour and pricey homes. I was already fantasizing about living among the stars, wearing designer sunglasses and sipping champagne.
Before Lily would show me the property, we had to chant together while we were still drinking at El Compadre. The place was crowded, and the mariachi band was still in high gear. I knew I looked skeptical about chanting.
“Come on, we can do it. Tune the Mexicans out,” Lily said as she closed her eyes and chanted. The waiter came by and made a comment. But I only caught, “Locas.” I kept one eye open and one closed while I chanted with Lily. It felt like a minute, and then she paused. We both instinctually did a pinkie swear. As we exhaled, we vowed to make this living situation work. I was cleared to visit the digs. But the rent Lily was going to charge was under market. So, was there a catch: leaking roof, Peeping Toms, bad plumbing, crawling with critters?
Angela Page is a writer, film producer, and graduate of The London School of Economics and New York University.
“THERE’S A DEAD GIRL IN MY YARD” is her latest co-authored released inspired by real events!
“SUDDENLY SINGLE SYLVIA,” a novella and dating guide and the basis for the award-winning short film “SYLVIA.”
“MATCHED IN HEAVEN,” a comic fantasy romance, was the winner of the 2015 New Apple humor category and 2015/16 Readers’ Views award winner in romance.
Her short stories have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. She wrote and produced the multi award-winning comedy short, “Unplugging Aunt Vera” which is featured on the SHORTS TV channel. Her other short works can be seen on IndiPix Unlimited and FunnyorDie
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happily ever after! This special holiday historical romance anthology featuring three heartwarming novellas proves that no matter the obstacles, ’tis the season for love.
Meet Me Under the Kissing Bough by Josi S. Kilpack
Deborah Winfrey hasn’t had the heart to host a holiday party since her husband’s death. But this Christmas, it’s time to move forward. The festivities bring renewed life to her home, and the attentions of two very different men promise a chance at new love.
Healing Hearts for the Holidays by Anneka R. Walker
Julia Hunt is strictly forbidden from associating with the family in the nearby manor—including the handsome younger son, Esmond, who quickly steals her heart. With Christmas around the corner, an old bundle of hidden love letters may be the key to her own happily ever after.
A Christmas Correspondence by Sarah L. McConkie
In this novella inspired by the timeless tale, A Christmas Carol, John Charleston finds himself on an unexpected journey in the company of the insufferable Lady Caroline Morleigh. But the magic of the season has a way of softening even the hardest of hearts.
This book is a retelling of A Christmas Carol. Most of the characters’ names are some kind of spin-off of the original, or found somewhere in the book. It was fun figuring out a way to make past, present, and future work through letters and not ghosts! One of my favorite subtle hints are the door knockers (that give a nod back to the original) and the opening line of chapter 1: “The fact was that John Charleston felt dead. Dead as a doornail, really, whatever that meant.”
Sarah L. McConkie started her writing career in the second grade with a thirteen-page magnum opus about dinosaurs. Although the plot line and penmanship lacked polish, Sarah learned she loved retiring to bed thinking of what to write the next day. On a good night, she still does the same thing. Sarah took up the pen several years later after tucking her own little dreamer into bed and now combines modern life experiences, a robust knowledge of regency classics and a passion for all things old fashioned and proper to craft her historical romances. She co-stars with her own Mr. Right in the real-life romantic comedy she calls life. Sarah believes creating thought-provoking and moral stories promotes literacy in a world that needs more readers. She has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and taught junior high choir for several years before becoming a stay-at-home mother to four darling children. She currently teaches piano and voice for BYU independent study.
Title: Return All Author: Eve Dangerfield Series: Rebirth #2 Genre: Romantic Comedy
Hundreds of women have tried to win Derek over, but the only girl he’s loved is nowhere to be found…
Derek Hardiman has been crowned a football prodigy—but success came at the cost of his dorky high school sweetheart, Mara Temple. A decade after she left town, he still can’t imagine marrying someone who isn’t her… Traveling for most of her twenties, Mara has returned home with a designer wardrobe, a sweet puppy, and a new last name. What better to keep her surly ex-boyfriend from recognizing her?
When Mara and Derek are thrown back into each other’s lives the obsession that began when they were teenagers returns in full force. Derek can hardly believe the goddess his once-awkward lover has become, and he’s determined to win her back. But Mara is determined not to give in to the hype surrounding her bachelor superstar ex. Unfortunately, Derek has always lived up to the hype. After all, a girl only has one daddy…
Derek moved toward her, getting bigger by the second. “Mara? Mara! It’s me!”
His eyes were wild, his face—his face looked different. His moustache was gone. Clean-shaven, he was more like the boy from school than ever, jogging toward her in a black hoodie as though this was Albury in 2011.
Mara lowered hands she hadn’t known she’d brought to her chest. “Hi.”
She said it so quietly he couldn’t have heard her, but his face lit up. Naked happiness so bright it was terrifying. She wanted to burrow into the ground like a scared rabbit.
Chase turned. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Derek didn’t even glance at him. His unworldly black eyes were locked on hers. Mara’s cunt contracted. He was going to pick her up. He was going to carry her away like a marauding conqueror. Then he didn’t. He pulled up, his body jolting. “Mara. I can’t believe it’s you.”
She stared up at him. Even in her fuchsia Attico pumps, she barely came to his shoulders. He’d grown since he was a teenager. Up close, his face was different too. There were lines around his eyes that weren’t visible in photos or on TV. Neither was the black stubble under his skin. The word rose unbidden, Daddy, and euphoria spread through Mara’s chest like honey.
“Hello? Asshole? Can you hear me?” Chase demanded.
Derek ignored him. His gaze dragged over her face, studying her as she studied him. She touched a hand to her lips. Had he noticed her injection? Her eyelashes? Her nose? The fact her ears no longer stuck out through her hair?
Then he shook his head. “You’re fucking stunning. You look so… I don’t know how to say it.”
Expensive. She looked expensive. Money had flowed into her life, glossing her rough parts, and buffing the bright places to a near-impossible shine. She looked like a rich girl. Mara stared at her toes. For years she’d dreamed of this moment, dreamed of him saying these things, but now he was here, and she wanted to hide.
“Mara… where have you been, baby?”
It was such a huge question, tied off with such a ridiculous pet name, Mara didn’t know how to answer. “Around. I guess.”
Derek’s face sagged. “But—”
Chase stepped between them. “Maybe I should have made this clearer at our meeting, stay the fuck away from us. Now leave or I’ll call the police.”
“One minute, mate.” Derek sidestepped Chase. “Your hair. When did you grow out your hair?”
Mara almost laughed. “When I was twenty. Derek, what are you doing here? Is this about the house?”
“The house? The fucking house?”
He took a step toward her, and Chase moved across, blocking him. “Talk with your words, Hardiman.”
Derek scowled but took a step backward. “I’ve been looking for you for years. I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Mara felt a small streak of pride. She’d paid handsomely to keep her name out of Google search terms. It was nice to know it had worked. “I… got off social media.”
“Right.” Derek shoved his hands into his pockets. “Fuck. Well, I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry, for everything. I’m sorry we lost touch and…”
His words washed over Mara like dirty waves. So sorry. Lost touch. Baby. They meant nothing. They were just sounds crammed together. A woman in a gray coat ducked past them and she realised they were blocking the path. She turned her face away.
Chase glanced from her to Derek. “Okay, this has been sufficiently weird, but we need to get to work. Goodbye, Mr Hardiman. Don’t come here again.”
Chase slid his arm through hers and steered her around Derek and back toward HFA.
“Mara!”
Derek’s voice stirred waters deep inside her. Places she’d allowed to crumble in the darkness of her twenties. She turned and found him staring desperately after her.
“Mara!” Derek’s voice was clear, a king calling across his hall. “Mara, we’re not done.”
She stopped as though he’d commanded it and Derek’s legs ate up the ground between them. “You. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”
She flushed, aware of Chase sputtering at her back. “Derek, I don’t know what to do.”
“So let me decide.”
Anger sizzled through her like hot oil. “Things aren’t the way they used to be.”
“Okay. I get that. You want me on my knees?”
“What?” she and Chase said together.
To her astonishment, Derek dropped like a stone onto the dirty footpath, cutting his height in half.
“For the love of Christ,” Chase groaned but Mara could only stare. Derek had always been unapologetic in his affection, but this was insane. He was a famous footballer and anyone could see him. How could he possibly be this desperate to speak to her? “Derek…”
“Give me your number.” He raised his tattooed palms as though in prayer. “Let me give you mine. I need to see you again.”
But you’re seeing me right now…
Chase touched her shoulder. “I’ll give you some privacy. But I’m right here.”
“Okay,” Mara whispered.
Derek watched Chase go, his gaze flicking back to hers as soon as he gauged Chase was far enough away.
“Baby,” his voice was gravel. “Baby, I want to kiss you. I am barely holding back right now.”
Mara knew that. She felt his energy vibrating out at her like orange heat. He wanted to snatch her up, crush her, take her down. Her body responded like warm paper desperate to curl into flame.
He smirked, so handsome, it almost stopped her heart. “It’s been too long, Little Miss.”
She stepped back. Little Miss. She called Pan that. But he had called her that. Not all the time. In bed. Pan. Pan was chewing away at Chase’s jumper upstairs. She needed to go to her. She needed to be with Pan. She took another step back. “I don’t know why you came, but I have to go.”
Derek stayed on his knees. “Give me your number. Or take mine. We’re not done, baby.”
Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels ever since she first swiped her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own stories about complicated women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Her work has been described as ‘genre-defying,’ ‘insanely hot’ and ‘the defibrillator contemporary romance needs right now’…and not just by herself or those who might need bone marrow…OTHER PEOPLE! She lives in Melbourne with her boy and a bunch of semi-dead plants. She can generally be found making a mess.
My little sister’s best friend is off-limits and always has been. Even if she wasn’t, the painfully beautiful woman is a shameless flirt—a free-spirited whirlwind of emotions. She shouldn’t appeal to me in the least.
I’m looking to settle down and am desperate enough to allow the meddlesome residents of Landry to set me up. Aria Davenport isn’t on their list of suitable options, I made sure of that.
Beyond our age difference and her relationship with my sister, the woman is my polar opposite.
But for one night, I give into temptation and let my need for her take over.
ARIA
After years of secretly pining for Garrett Caldwell—the grumpy and elusive hot town doctor—he finally looks my way.
Maybe it was only once, and maybe that was exactly what we agreed to, but that one scorching night ties us together for the rest of our lives.
An unexpected pregnancy changes everything and certainly has this small town talking.
Suddenly he claims to want more and I can’t keep the doubt from creeping in. Because building a relationship based on feelings of responsibility and obligation would break me. So I guard my heart against the one man who has the power to destroy it.
Amy Alves lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two crazy cute kids. She is a romance-obsessed reader, a lover of wine and fuzzy socks, and a loather of laundry. She loves contemporary, paranormal, and rom com romance—her kindle always has a long list of books waiting to be read.
Amy writes contemporary romance with a hint of rom com fun. Tropes you can expect to see are: second chance, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and fake relationships.
Title: Kate Author: Charyse Allan Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Relationships are forbidden. Love is unacceptable. Control is her lifeblood.
After escaping her past, Kate builds her life around a single purpose: staying hidden. But when the unexpected threatens to unravel her tightly kept secrets, her will to remain alone falters.
Kate ran, planning to leave behind a shell of a life, giving herself strict rules to live by in order to keep the past hidden. But these rules have her trading one prison for another.
Then Kai sneaks into her life, shoving through her shields, getting her to break every one of her rules. An unexpected surprise threatens to unravel her secrets and strip away the control she fought so hard for. But she embraces it, diving into the unknown with Kai.
When her past catches up with her, she battles to keep those she has come to love protected, refusing to relent the strength she found within. But when stuck in a place she never wants to return to and with no chance of escape, she fears losing everything she’s allowed herself to cherish.
Charyse published the first novel of the Valley of Death Series in 2014 and has published four books since. She is working toward her BA in Professional Writing through GCU. Now married to her best friend/high school sweetheart, they live in the sweltering heat of Arizona raising their four kiddos and two Goldens. She’s a bookaholic and chocoholic; her vices keep her sane, but YAH keeps her patient.
Novelist Christine Lind has achieved her lifelong dream—a string of best-selling books and a cable-TV adaptation about to go into production. But on her way to London FanFest for the cast reveal, disaster strikes: their leading man is injured in a motorcycle accident… and his replacement is the one person she hoped she’d never seen again.
Nick Cleary has clawed his way to recognition as a Hollywood actor, but it’s long past time he get the chance to show he’s more than a pretty face and a chiseled set of abs. His big break comes in the form of a juicy lead role in a new steampunk fantasy series. There’s just one catch—casting has to be approved by the author… a woman he once devastated through his own youthful stupidity.
Christine is the last person to be starstruck by the handsome heartthrob, but as the clock ticks down to the cast announcement and Nick races to show that he’s really changed, she begins to wonder if there’s more to her ex than his Hollywood persona. Except now the consequences of being wrong no longer apply only to her career… but also to her carefully guarded heart.
Meg Adamson has been slaving away as a junior associate at a tiny Denver architecture firm since graduation, contributing to significant projects but not making any headway up the corporate ladder. So when she gets the chance to make a last minute bid to renovate an eccentric heiress’s mansion in Vail, Colorado, she’ll do almost anything to get the job—even risk driving into the high country before an impending snowstorm. If she’s quick and careful, she can get the information she needs and be back in Denver before the first flakes fall.
That is, until she’s confronted by long-time rival—and college crush—Declan McKenzie, who has also been invited to bid on the project. Declan has been one step ahead their entire acquaintance, nabbing the top spot in their graduating class and a coveted job at a world-class architecture firm, barely edging her out every time. Meg has spent her entire career in his shadow, and she’s determined that he’s not going to get the best of her this time.
But when their bickering conceals the early arrival of the massive snowstorm and they find themselves stranded with no heat or power, they’ll have to put aside their differences to make it through the weekend. Because as the temperature drops and their competition heats up, the only way out is together… with or without their hearts intact.
Real estate agent Bailey Jensen just wants a single quiet weekend in the midst of her goal-driven life, and a professional conference in Islamorada, Florida seems like just the thing—if she can ignore the fact she’ll be flying conspicuously solo at the company awards banquet in front of her ex-boyfriend and his new love.
Free spirit Zane Whitney would normally consider the Florida Keys his happy place, but considering he’s in Islamorada to witness his college roommate marry his ex-girlfriend, it’s the last place he wants to be. Complicate that with the fact he RSVP’d for two and he’s still conspicuously dateless, and this has all the earmarks of a humiliation in the making.
When Bailey and Zane find themselves double-booked into the same vacation rental, they realize their host’s mistake just might be the answer to their problems: share the house, act as each other’s plus-ones, and then move on with their lives. But neither Bailey nor Zane anticipates the possibility that a fake relationship might just give way to real feelings…
I’m a sucker for a romantic setting, whether it’s my favorite overseas spots or little-known corners of my own hometown. But where setting can be a nice surprise in a full-length book, it’s absolutely crucial in a novella!
Romance novellas are short and sweet, and they focus exclusively on the falling-in-love butterflies between the main couple, without much distraction from outside plot or secondary characters. Setting adds a necessary texture and interest to an otherwise straightforward story, and it can either act as a main feature in the couple’s burgeoning romance or as a source of conflict that threaten their happiness. So with that kind of importance in the story, why not make it a great one?
My Discovered by Love novella quartet does just that—it features some of the most beautiful settings in the world as a background for sweet, heart-warming romance.
In Jilted, a private island off the coast of Belize serves as both the catalyst and the backdrop for a whirlwind romance between a jilted groom, Derek, and the island’s private chef-turned-tour guide, Bethany. As they tour Mayan ruins, sample street food in charming mainland towns, and bask in the sunshine and turquoise waters, it’s hard to imagine not falling in love with an intriguing stranger!
Starstruck takes the excitement of London and the whimsy of a comic and fandom convention to bring a fantasy novelist back together with her estranged actor boyfriend when he’s subbed in as the romantic hero in a last-minute cast change for her TV adaptation. As the clock counts down toward the cast announcement and Nick scrambles to get Christine’s approval for the role of his lifetime, London Fan Fest is not just an entertaining background but a challenge to overcome.
For Snowbound, I stuck closer to home—my beloved Colorado—but set the story in the high country near the ritzy enclave of Vail. This time the setting is a straight-up source of conflict when two rival architects get snowed in at the site of the dream renovation and are forced to work through their differences to make it out in one piece! (Still, I’m not sure it’s a complete hardship, being stuck in front of a roaring fire in a multi-million-dollar ski lodge with your grad school crush…)
And last, Sunswept takes us back around to another sunny, tropical location, this time Islamorada, a village that stretches across six of Florida’s keys. When a tech entrepreneur reluctantly comes to Florida to witness his ex-girlfriend marry his college roommate and ends up double-booked in a beach house with a real estate agent there for a conference, they decide to turn an inconvenience into a solution to their plus-one problems. Which means that the lovely ocean-front cottage is both conflict and catalyst for their happily ever after!
Clearly, I’ve caught the travel bug hard with these novellas, and my biggest goal was to make readers fall in love with these beloved settings as much as the characters. Because the only thing better than falling in love is having a beautiful sunset to ride into together.
About Carla Laureano
Carla Laureano is the two-time RITA® award-winning author of over a dozen books, spanning the genres of contemporary romance and Celtic fantasy. A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked in sales and marketing for more than a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write full-time. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, two sons, and an opinionated tortoiseshell cat named Willow. Visit her website at carlalaureano.com to download the romance novella, JILTED, for free!
— Magic may take many forms, but love shall rule supreme —
Though wholly shorn of memories like all who dwell in the village of Fogland, Fleex knows this: his heart will always beat for Fin and Fin alone. However, when his dearest friend is hoodwinked by the Gossiper, he’ll need to venture beyond the safety of “home” to somehow save her.
Armed with but the oddities his guardians had found him with—a cryptic book and broken necklace—Fleex must find his way through countless worlds, collecting scattered clues. Accompanied by Flip and Flop, two Greenies sent by Fog Almighty, Fleex soon finds his quest means rather more than simply saving Fin. In fact, the very universe is hanging in the balance now, for music, knowledge, and all things good are slowly being swallowed by a monster made of light. Awaiting Fleex are riddles from the Reader in the World of Word, demands from the Collector, and a slew of wicked on the path to where the High Priest lives.
Only time will tell if Fleex can mend the fractures greed has caused, but either way, he’ll reclaim Fin or meet his fate en route.
They hung in the grey void, water dripping from their clothes and falling into the abyss below them. Fleex remembered. Maybe he had to use the word bridge the Collector had told him about. But were they in Word yet and would that bridge help? One thing was sure, he would never know if he did not try. He strained his memory and began:
‘Lead us to Light of knowledge,
so With letters build step one!’
A step appeared before him. It was made of letters, interwoven so closely that it was impossible to read what was written. The step was hanging in the air, very close to them, emitting a weak light.
To reach the hidden treasure though A second step be done.
Up the ladder I shall climb Until I reach the sun.
To find the wisdom of all time
From which the truth be spun.
The second step consisted of texts in languages unknown to Fleex. The Greenies had explained to him that Herba Linguista helped only with understanding and speaking, but not with reading of foreign texts. That was obviously a not-very-advanced herb. Further up the ladder, there were steps with densely-written formulae and numbers, maps and charts. All was well for the moment, he just needed to climb them. The steps were stable and broad enough for him. Fleex climbed them without stopping to take a breath until he reached the top, where he saw something that seemed to resemble a book. In fact, it was not possible to tell whether it was a book or not. It was enormous in size, its cover was dark and cracked, and its pages, as big as bed sheets, were sticking out untidily. When they went very close to it, they could hear panting and mumbling in a foreign tongue. A dull crackle seemed to come from inside, and small clouds of white dust spread along its edges. Fleex gulped, wondering what to do.
There was a loud ‘BOOM!’ and a scruffy-looking creature with large, lens-like eyes suddenly rolled out from the book. It came to a halt with a loud screech, just before it could bump into Fleex and push him back down the ladder. It peered up through thick lenses and said:
‘Hmmm, a group of foreigners appear?
But I did not invite them here.’
‘We do not wish to take up your valuable time,’ said Flip to the grumpy-looking, little man who was studying them from the ground.
The little man replied angrily:
‘The last ones came and said the same, I trusted them for sure.
Then off they went with all my things
So now I trust no more.’ He rose slowly. ‘What do you want?’
Born and raised in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, Toni Behm graduated MA in Bulgarian Language and Literature from the University of Plovdiv and later certified as a TEFL teacher. She worked for a time at a local radio station, newspaper, then she taught English at school and university. In 2008 she moved to the USA and started writing this story. The initial idea was that it would be a short humorous fantasy story, but later it turned into a longer fairy-tale.
Published under the pen name A.V. Osten as an e-book is her dystopian novelette The Head Employee Precedent, part of the Hemisphere series.
Toni lives in Michigan with her husband, daughter, and their two cats.
Hazel Stillman is a woman of rare independence and limited opportunities. Born with a clubbed foot, Hazel knows marriage is unlikely, so she devotes herself to teaching at a private girls’ school.
When her uncle offers Hazel a substantial inheritance if she marries, she is offended. What kind of decent man would marry for her money? But when she learns the school might be sold, she knows she must consider all her options.
Duncan Penhale thrives on order and process. He has no interest in marriage, so when Elliott Mayfield, his guardian’s brother, offers him an inheritance if he weds, Duncan finds it intrusive. However, an inheritance means he could purchase a building and run his own accounting firm.
Hazel and Duncan believe they have found a solution to both of their problems: marry one another, claim their inheritances, and then part ways to enjoy their individual paths. But then Uncle Mayfield stipulates that they must first live together as a couple for one year.
Over time, their marriage of convenience becomes much more appealing than they had anticipated. At the end of the full year, will they go their separate ways or could an unlikely marriage have found unsuspecting love?
Josi S. Kilpack hated to read until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and credits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began writing her first novel in 1998 and has written thirty-three novels, one cookbook, and several short stories since then. She is a four-time Whitney Award winner, including two Novel of the Year awards for Lord Fenton’s Folly and As Wide as the Sky and a Best of State winner in Fiction. She writes her national women’s fiction under the pen name of Jessica Pack (say Josi Kilpack really fast and you’ll see why she chose it). Josi currently lives in Northern Utah and is the mother of 4 wonderful kids. For more information about Josi or her books, please visit her blog, What is a Sundial In the Shade?
