I walked down the aisle and said “I do” to the wrong man.
Unfortunately, it took me eight years to figure it out.
Nine if you count the year after I figured it out to get my head together and see who was right in front of me the whole time.
You’d think that being a romance author would have helped me to see the signs.
I’d been able to write my own happily-ever-after so easily.
But like so many of the books I read and write, it took something dramatic to happen before I opened my eyes and saw Brock as the man he’s been to me my entire life.
I get a second chance to do this love thing right and I won’t mess it up again.
She asked me to walk her down the aisle but how could I do that when I knew she was about to say “I do” to the wrong man?
It didn’t take some big epiphany for me to suddenly realize I had feelings for her.
They were just… there. Always.
I missed my chance because I was a young coward.
No longer the scared teenager, I’m a man who knows who and what I want.
I’m not going to make the same mistake again or ignore the second chance I’ve been given.
Naomi’s about to see whose held my heart all these years.
Because the pain of watching her build a life with another man was almost more than I could handle.
But loving her? Having the chance to show her a true love? Well, it’s indescribable.
So Brock is man with a ton of patience. He fell in love as a teenager and as fast as I he realized that Naomi is walking down the aisle. He then is pushed aside, not out of anything but love does he distance himself so that her marriage can be successful. Until it isn't. Naomi's life slowly began to go downhill when she didn't even know it. She is cheated on. Her life a sham, she decides to take it back. She and Brock finally get their life back together. The friendship since forever is finally back on track. This friendship is finally in a spot that both of their hearts can grown. They were sweet together and I loved watching them move from friends to more. I also enjoyed this family, the siblings and Cody were funny and loyal. I cannot wait for the next.
Jennifer caught the writing bug when she was in high school, but didn’t bring her dream to life until many years later. From the Ground Up was her first published novel, and she wrote it hoping to touch just one person. Jennifer makes her home in rural Iowa with her farm boy high school sweetheart, three beautiful and amazing kids, one crazy Jack Russell terrier. Jennifer’s family enjoys visiting different parts of the United States with their camper, sitting around bonfires, and spending summers on the lake. When she’s not writing, she’s sipping coffee or iced tea with her kindle in her lap or binging on Netflix.
When 2 become 1. Ever witnessed this? I really didn't pay attention to it until recently. Like everything else now, I am going to blame my age. I seem to pay attention to pattern behavior or different phrases repeated by people more now. One that I have seen more at this age is my friends disappearing and sounding more like their partner. The once fierce, independent, and mouthy friend is now repeating what you hear out the partners mouth more and more. I understand being with someone for so long you become dependent, you are together with like minds, and you are living a life together. I just don't know when we lose ourselves.
And sometimes that friend is with someone who is a horrible selfish human being and next thing you know that friend is lost because she/he is also showing those horrible selfish traits. It just seems to be happening too often now, no one is friendly, no one is concerned, and no one cares. They are in this for themselves and the heck with anyone else. I don't even know where I am going with this, just a random thought based on a real life experience. Sometimes it just gets to be too much when you are used and abused but not thought of when you need a little help. But here I am always there for the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th chance trying to see if that person does different.
My mom always said you don't get a second shot at making a first impression. I've remembered that my entire career. Especially since I'm one of the few black men who play professional hockey.
I'm calculated and respectful in the way I speak to my coaches, the owners, and the media. I've never taken a risk... until her.
I could blame it on the fact that for once I pushed away the pressure of my career for the ocean waves, the sand, and good times with my new teammates. But those are excuses because the minute I saw her at the airport, something lit up inside me and the best week of my life was spent with her in my bed.
After our week in paradise, we said goodbye, exchanged phone numbers and both assumed that unless one of us was flying through the other's city on the opposite side of the country, our vacation fling was over.
Then one night after practice I see her. She's here. In my city. Telling me she moved here for a job. If that's not fate tell me what is.
I've never wanted a second shot more than I do this time, but she's determined to leave what we were on the island we left behind.
Download today on Kobo, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Amazon!
Cory will make your heart melt. He was sweet and adorable. Ande is getting over a bad break up and moving on. Fate takes it in her hands to move Ande closer to a fling she had. That fling is Cory. Cory keeps getting lectured on his playboy ways, but he's young and getting his feet wet with hockey. These two were kinda messed up along with a lot of sweet. There is a huge issue between the two and trust. This plays out and finds its way out to be resolved but it made my heart stay in my throat. It was a really good read and I cannot wait for more from this series.
Meet Piper Rayne
Piper Rayne is a USA Today Bestselling Author duo who write "heartwarming humor with a side of sizzle" about families, whether that be blood or found. They both have e-readers full of one-clickable books, they're married to husbands who drive them to drink, and they're both chauffeurs to their kids. Most of all, they love hot heroes and quirky heroines who make them laugh, and they hope you do, too!
Pro quarterbacks regularly face tough linemen determined to knock them down—but for one hotshot athlete, it was an infuriating blonde who stood the best chance of laying him on his back.
I was one of the top quarterbacks in the league, riding high after scoring a lucrative deal with the DC Rockets. Fans adored me, sponsors wanted me, and women, well, they were eager to date me. Except my life revolved around football, not falling in love.
Until I saw her.
I’d just scored the winning touchdown, sending the Rockets into the playoffs and ending the Virginia Thunder’s season. I spiked the ball and basked in the fans’ cheers. I’d done it. But then I took off my helmet and locked eyes with a gorgeous blonde.
She wasn’t cheering. Instead, she stood with her arms crossed, glaring at me. I smirked and winked, hoping to soften her murderous expression. Except it had the opposite effect. Rather than smiling back, she lifted her hand and extended her middle finger before disappearing into the crowd.
That was unexpected.
After my press conference, I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman in the stands. It didn’t help that social media had turned our interaction into a meme, and then I found out that the beauty was none other than Reese Parker, granddaughter of Charles Parker, owner of the Virginia Thunder. Which explained her reaction… sort of.
I should prep for the playoffs, but all I wanted to do was convince her I wasn’t enemy number one—and that scoring with me would be her best move.
Trent is riding high and winning when he looks up in the stands to see a face of the angel. However that angel isn't a fan. These two were great. Reese stands her ground, loving her home team and knowing a whole lot about the sport. This knowledge just makes the attraction more for Trent. He wants to get to know her, wants to enjoy her company, and soon he gets the date. These two were adorable together and I enjoyed this story.
Meet Carina Rose
Carina loves everything about romance. To her, it’s the little things that matter.
She also believes in insta-love, since she knew her husband was the one the first day she met him.
When it comes to books, she uses them as an escape from reality. . . . to get swept away. Carina hopes her words do the same for her readers.
She’s a mother and wife and loves spending time with her family. She enjoys meeting new people, traveling, reading, watching sports, and, of course, relaxing on a beach.
Carina looks forward to sharing more love stories in her future novels.
From Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY bestselling author Natasha Madison comes a brand new stand-alone sports romance. The eighth installment of the Only One Series. A spin-off from the Something So Series and This is Series
Dylan
My dreams came true when I was adopted at ten.
I was the best on the ice. Living the life of what every kid dreams of.
We’ve been best friends since then. Even when she was the annoying little sister following us around.
I would do anything for her.
It is another family vacation; except this time it feels different. Everything feels different.
Alex
All my memories have Dylan in them. From the first time I fell off my bike, to the time I got my heartbroken for the first time.
He’s always been my protector, but it’s time to let the dream of being his go.
I knew Dylan was going to become the favorite and I was right. The little that I saw in previous books I just knew he was going to steal my heart. Dylan is at a pivotal point in his career, stay or go, rebuild or regroup, and he knows he wants to settle and his heart just doesn't feel good. He has felt off for a while and a family vacation helps his heart. He is back with his family and Alex. Alex, his best friend, she's been there since the beginning. When he joined this big crazy family, she is in very memory. When she begins talking about work and life, he starts to realize why he felt so unsettled and trying to figure out how can he fix it. This story was everything. AND I mean everything. He is the man you root for, the man you want your daughter to find, and the man that the Stone family make. He is all the above and Alex, she gets him.
Meet Natasha Madison
When her nose isn't buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she's in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It's a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn't listen to her...
What chance does a small-town girl have with a world-famous rock star?
Famous in a Small Town, the all-new rock-star-next-door romance, from New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott, is out now!
Two years after his wife’s death, rock star Garrett Hayes hasn’t moved on. But he has moved out of L.A. Where better to escape his past than a small town in the northern California mountains? If only he could get the townsfolk of Wildwood to leave him the hell alone.
Ani Bennet returned to her hometown for some much-needed serenity. The last thing she needs is a grumpy, too hot for his own good, rich and famous rock star living next door—and rent-free in her brain.
She set her fangirl tendencies aside and deleted his photo from her cell when they became neighbors. But when Garrett asks for help, she can’t say no. The problem is, spending time together is making those fangirl feelings resurface—and bringing them to a whole new level.
What chance does a small-town girl have with a world-famous rock star? It’s time for Ani to set her fears aside and find out.
Review:
I really enjoyed this story. Kylie really knows how to share a rocker's story and does it well. I couldn't put it down. These two are so good together. I really enjoyed it.
My new neighbor arrived at midnight on a Thursday. First came the moving truck, followed by a Jeep Wrangler. Mrs. Cooper, the former owner of the house, passed a while back. A damn shame. The woman was not only nice, but she made biscuits like you wouldn’t believe. For years the grand old Victorian house sat empty at the end of the cul-de-sac. Not unusual for a small town. Few people wanted to move to the middle of nowhere in Northern California, no matter how picturesque it might be. While the place had been sold not long after listing, there’d been no sighting of the new owner until now. “What the heck?” I mumbled to myself, standing at the window. Who moved in the middle of the night? It seemed covert and suspicious. Like something a criminal or government agent would do. Although, maybe they just traveled far and this happened to be the time they arrived. But most people would stay at a hotel and wait for daylight to do this sort of thing. Surely. The only things ever happening at midnight in Wildwood were: 1. Harry, the town drunk, performing Bob Dylan classics in the middle of Main Street. 2. Me, an insomniac, wandering aimlessly around my house. That was it. Everyone else in the whole wide world—or our corner of it—was fast asleep. Half hidden behind a curtain, I watched the truck being unloaded. A full moon shone down through the pine trees as the moving men hauled stuff inside. The first guy, the one who drove the Jeep, went straight into the house. He was tall and wore a ball cap. That was about all I could see. Maybe he was setting the place up for his wife and family. Maybe he had a boyfriend. He couldn’t possibly be single, heterosexual, under sixty, and emotionally mature. My luck just wasn’t that good. Not that I intended to date again in this lifetime. Whoever he was and whatever he was doing, it would all be known in due course. Such was the joy of small-town life. Once the furniture was moved inside, things got a little dull. There’s not much you can tell about a person from their boxes. I took the opportunity to once again check the locks on all my windows and doors. After that, I made a cup of chamomile tea. Neither of these things helped me sleep, but the rituals were soothing. Mom always said I had a busy mind. I didn’t necessarily think about anything useful, I just thought a lot. At night, I tended to think about books, bad memories, and ex-boyfriends. The last two were often one and the same. As a child, I was the daydreamer who got busted humming in class when everyone else was concentrating. (Like anybody actually needed algebra. If you can work out the discount at a sale, you’re good to go. Then again, this attitude might explain why my life had gone approximately nowhere.) I returned to the window just in time to see my mystery man reappear. The new neighbor strode out to the Jeep and opened up the back. When he once more headed toward the house, the ball cap was gone and his short hair was on display. In each hand he carried a guitar case. I perked up. Musicians were cool. Unless he owned electric guitars and believed in turning the volume up to eleven. That could get old fast. As he got closer to the house, the porchlight hit him and…huh. Something about his profile tugged at a memory. Guess he felt my gaze, because he turned toward my place. And whoa. His lips were a thin line, his jaw set to cranky, and none of it mattered—the man was beautiful. Though he really was strangely familiar. Meanwhile, with only a lamp on behind me, I couldn’t have been more than an outline. A shadowy person lurking in the dark. Great. Nothing like being spied on to make you feel welcome in your new neighborhood. So much better than a casserole or cookies. Wait! I knew where I recognized him from. Only it couldn’t be, because that would be crazy. Absolutely fucking wild. Yet there he stood. “Holy shit,” I whispered. My new neighbor was a goddamn rock star.
About Kylie Scott Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014 & 2018, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.
From USA Today bestselling author J.D. Hollyfield comes a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about falling in love with your one-night stand. But of course, it can’t be that easy.
CHASE
Hit it and quit it.
That’s always been my motto. Falling in love is for chumps and I vow to never go down that road again. So, when a bombshell blonde approaches me at the bar looking to hook up, I am more than willing to oblige.
One night is my limit, but after our night of passion, I would change my rules for another round with her. Shame, the only proof she even existed is the lingering scent of cherries and the damn smile I can’t get rid of.
Or so I thought.
BRIDGET
Losing the love of your life puts your whole world into perspective, especially when the one man who is supposed to protect you is the very man who took it all away. I’m done feeling betrayed. From now on I make the rules. And currently, my eyes are set on the tan, muscular, guy sitting at the bar. I don’t know him. He doesn’t know me. One night together is exactly what I need.
But when I open the front door to my cousin's house, and I see him standing on the other side...that's the moment everything gets complicated.
This one had a little bit of everything. Chase was a different man though, he ended up being a stage 5 clinger who hated commitment...yea let that one sink it. It was so cute. He would tease his friends, totally didn't want to be attached but when Bridget comes into his life, he wants to be with her always. Bridget had a tragic ending to a relationship and doesn't want to be put through that again. Both cannot fight it though and the story is very sweet.
Meet J.D. Hollyfield
Creative designer, mother, wife, writer, part time superhero…
J.D. Hollyfield is a creative designer by day and superhero by night. When she is not trying to save the world one happy ending at a time, she enjoys the snuggles of her husband, son’s and three doxies. With her love for romance, and head full of book boyfriends, she was inspired to test her creative abilities and bring her own story to life.
J.D. Hollyfield lives in the Midwest, and is currently at work on blowing the minds of readers, with the additions of her new books and series, along with her charm, humor and HEA’s.
To learn more about J.D. Hollyfield and her books, visit here!
