I’ve spent a year trying to arrange meetings with the elusive pharmacist to no avail. It’s my job to recruit the brightest minds in Healthcare. But why did it have to be this arrogant man?
The constant rejection has been a bitter pill to swallow. Yet had fate stepped in with the perfect cure?
Maxwell
Driven and determined, my focus is on my work. Being named Pharmacist of the Year at this year’s National Convention is a proud achievement. While I don’t lack female companionship, this event requires a professional. Someone with class and sophistication. Finding Vivi on the Holidates app could be just what the doctor ordered.
Until the truth comes out.
This arrangement needs to stop. But if I walk away from her now, would I ever recover?
A short story collection by the authors of the Holidates Series giving you a peek at the lives of our hot heroes and sassy heroines before they find out about the Holidates app.
Aurora Paige is a healthcare professional by day and a FilAm writer of steamy contemporary romance with sassy heroines and sexy heroes at night. Each Aurora Paige story delivers a variety of Curvy Heroines, Multicultural relationships, Alpha Heroes, Steamy Heat, and a Guaranteed Happily Ever After.
This was my first time reading this author and at times I was like "what just happened?" This is a stand alone story. Its part of series but I have not read any other books in the series, I did feel it stood alone very well.
I would classify this story as a highly erotic romance. At times this couple role plays and she calls him Daddy. Now I have read stories like that but usually I know its coming and this one I was like what? The whole daddy thing seemed to come out of nowhere.
The story follows Vivi who has a father suffering from Dementia. She works in pharma and there is a drug that Dr Maxwell is working on and she has been a bit stalkery in trying to get the drug for her father. So when she runs across him on a holidate app she decides to be his fake date at a medical convention.
And so the fun begins.
This is a novella romance so I liked that it was a fast read. It also moved fast and I also liked that as well. Max was a pretty awesome guy but I did not like how Vivi was very dishonest with him about her name. But I also understood her desperation.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When the baby-making ends will something else begin?
Josh and Gemma Make a Baby, an all new laugh-out-loud friends-to-lovers romantic comedy from bestselling author Sarah Ready is available now!
ABOUT THE BOOK
New Year’s Resolution:
Have a baby
Preferably with Josh Lewenthal
Meet Gemma Jacobs. She’s driven, energetic, and a positive thinker. She has a great career working for famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, she lives in a cute studio apartment in Manhattan, and her family is supportive and loving (albeit a little kooky). Her life is perfect. Absolutely wonderful.
Except for one tiny little thing.
After a decade of disastrous relationships and an infertility diagnosis, Gemma doesn’t want a Mr. Right (or even a Mr. Right Now), she just wants a baby.
And all she needs is an egg, some sperm, and IVF.
So Gemma makes a New Year’s resolution: have a baby.
Josh Lewenthal is a laid back, relaxed, find-the-humor-in-life kind of guy. The polar opposite of Gemma. He’s also her brother’s best friend. For the past twenty years Josh has attended every Jacobs’ family birthday, holiday, and event – he’s always around.
Gemma knows him. He’s nice (enough), he’s funny (-ish), he’s healthy (she thinks) and he didn’t burn any ants with a magnifying glass as a kid. Which, in Gemma’s mind, makes him the perfect option for a sperm donor.
So Gemma wants to make a deal. An unemotional, business-like arrangement. No commitments, just a baby.
To Gemma’s surprise, Josh agrees.
They have nothing in common, except their agreement to make a baby and their desire to keep things businesslike.
But the thing about baby-making…it’s hard to keep it businesslike, it’s nearly impossible to keep it unemotional, and it’s definitely impossible to keep your heart out of the mix. Because when you’re making a baby together, things have a way of starting to feel like you’re making other things too – like a life, and a family, and love. And when the baby-making ends, you wish that everything else didn’t have to end too.
It’s like he has some sort of super-psychic power that lets him know when a woman needs him. I think about him stealing my undies all those years ago and I realize that yes, he probably does have a secret power. Some sort of man radar—mandar.
We haven’t really spoken in years, except for the casual greeting at the New Year’s party or a “hi, how are you” at a random friends and family get together. Yet here he is, right when I need him.
I step into my bedroom and shut the door. Josh is spread out on my pink lace coverlet, his arms behind his head, and his legs crossed—the picture of relaxation. He’s in his standard outfit, faded jeans and a tight T-shirt depicting some obscure graphic novel character. His black hair needs a trim and he has at least two days’ worth of dark stubble on his face.
Even though I’m indifferent to him as a person and I know for a fact he’s not my type, my lady parts still clench. He’s that good looking.
He smirks at me, like he knows the effect he’s having. Here’s the thing about Josh, he’s completely unable to take life seriously. It’s like the whole universe is a funny joke to him, and he’s just living his life so he can be amused.
When he graduated from high school he was voted the most likely to succeed. He was captain of the football team, the basketball team, homecoming king and the valedictorian. Everyone thought he was going places. Especially me.
After he graduated from college he took a job at a tech start-up, worked his way up the ranks to VP, and then according to my brother, he just woke up one day and decided to quit. He walked into the office, took a box out of the supply closet, packed up his desk, and walked out. Ever since then he’s been doing his web comic thing. But I guess if he’s living with his dad again, it’s not going all that well.
I look him over. The thing is, I’m not sussing him out as a prospective husband, I don’t care about his career goals, how big his paycheck is, or whether he lives in his dad’s basement. I don’t care about his potential or non-potential as a life mate. I’m thinking about his genetics. And his genetics are just fine.
I close the door with a sharp snick.
“What are you doing on my bed?” I ask.
His eyes, always full of sharp intelligence, take in my sauce-covered dress and the blush still lingering on my cheeks.
“What are you doing covered in barbecue?” A small smile flits over his lips and his forehead wrinkles as he takes in my appearance.
My outfit from earlier is folded in a neat pile and sitting on my dresser. Josh starts to stand up.
“Stay there. I need to talk to you.”
I decide that rather than risk him leaving while I change, I’ll talk to him covered in sauce.
“Alright.” He scoots over and pats my bed.
I give him a look and he shrugs. “Sorry. I was up all night finishing a storyboard. Whenever I stayed the night with Dylan, your mom would always give me your bed to sleep in. I didn’t think, it just seemed natural to…”
He trails off when he sees the expression on my face. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that Josh has apparently been sleeping in my childhood bedroom for years.
I look at my dresser and realize that my teenage diary is in the top drawer hidden under my underwear. My skin prickles with, yup, that’s embarrassment. I look at the dresser then at Josh, but he doesn’t seem any different than usual. Maybe he’s not a snooper. Probably, yes, probably he never read it. Because if he had…errr…my teenage self was not shy about fantasizing about him.
I settle onto the mattress next to him.
He clears his throat and scoots over. “So what’s up?”
Oh God.
Am I really going to do this?
Can I do this?
It seemed perfectly reasonable and normal when I was planning it out after my doctor’s appointment. I looked more into donor sperm and weighed the benefits and detriments of donor versus Josh. Every way I looked at it, Josh came out on top.
He gives me a funny look. “Gemma? What’s up? You alright?”
“I need your sperm,” I blurt out.
Josh starts to choke, then he coughs. His face turns red and he hits his chest.
Oh no. I’ve killed him.
He coughs and his eyes water.
I slap his back and he shakes his head.
Maybe I shouldn’t have just blurted it out like that, but I was nervous and I didn’t think.
Finally, he takes a wheezing breath and says, “Come again?”
“I…I need your sperm?”
I smile at him. The look he gives me makes my hand fly to my mouth in an effort to contain the laugh bubbling up from my chest. Oh jeez, I’ve lost my brain. I should’ve written talking points or a speech or something.
“You want to have sex?” Josh asks. He looks really confused. “Gemma. You really have to work on your pick-up lines.”
I shake my head. But he’s already starting to lift his shirt up. I catch a glimpse of rock-hard abs. “If you want to, we can. But we’ll have to hurry. The New Year’s Resolution reading is soon. We have maybe ten minutes. Not that I can’t blow your mind in ten minutes.”
I scoot back and make a strangled sound.
He takes in my expression and starts to snicker.
“Kidding. Gemma, I’m kidding,” he says, and he drops his shirt.
I nod and blow out a long, mind-clearing breath. “Sorry, I didn’t say that right. What I meant to say was, ummm, we’ve known each other a long time.”
“Twenty-four years,” he agrees.
“Right. We grew up in the same town. Went to the same school. You’re my brother’s best friend. You come to our holiday parties, birthdays. You’re always around.”
I scrutinize his face to see if he gets where I’m going. Unfortunately, he just looks confused.
“I feel like I know you pretty well. I can say that you’re a decent guy.”
He frowns. “Thanks.”
“If I ask you something, do you promise not to tell Dylan, or anybody?”
Josh leans back and studies me. “Gem, I don’t think we should have sex.”
I close my eyes. “No. No, jeez. Obviously. Ugh, did it once, got the T-shirt.”
I open one eye and look at him, then I open the other.
He grins at me. “The T-shirt huh?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About Sarah Ready
Author Sarah Ready writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy. Her books have been described as “euphoric”, “heartwarming” and “laugh out loud”. Her debut novel The Fall in Love Checklist was hailed as “the unicorn read of 2020”. She loves to write fast-paced, emotionally compelling romances about quirky, smart women and the men who love them.
Before writing romance full-time Sarah had lots of fun teaching at an Ivy League. Then she realized she could have even more fun writing romance. Her favorite things after writing are adventuring and travel. You’ll frequently find her using her degree at a dino dig site, crawling into a cave, snorkeling, or on horseback riding through the jungle – all fodder for her next book. She’s lived in Scotland, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and NYC. She currently lives in the Caribbean with her water-obsessed pup and her awesome family.
Stay up to date with all the things and subscribe to Sarah’s mailing list: https://bit.ly/3sWxUbe
This was my first time reading this author and I found this story different than I expected. I thought it would be a more lighthearted read and it's not, it's more of an emotional story and it's about a pretty painful subject for women, infertility.
Gemma has a great family and a wonderful job she enjoys. She also has an ex-husband who was a huge jerk and one of the reasons it did not work was because of her infertility. Now single she wants her own family, but she is not wanting it with a man. Because of her fertility challenges the best option for her is IVF.
When asked who the donor sperm will be she decides that her former crush and brothers' best friend, Josh would make the perfect dad. And so, she asks him and that's when this story gets interesting.
The story was told from Gemma's POV and it's not my favorite way to read a story. Thats why I felt it's more a chick lit story than a romance. It's also a story that dealt with some really sensitive issues and while I enjoyed it a lot, it's not a light read.
The story was very well written, and I enjoyed seeing everything from Gemma's POV. This story made me chuckle, laugh and even shed a few tears.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Love is all fun and games... until someone gets hurt.
I'm Andrea Harper, top striker for the LA Angels. I play hard, party hard, and I don't do relationships. I sleep with who I want, when I want. I'm out to have fun. The only important thing in my life is soccer. I have spent my entire life dedicated to the game. And I'm on track to be one of the best female soccer players in the country, if not the world. Being the best is the only thing that matters.
But life has a way of throwing you a curveball when you least expect it, and in my case, it was love.
One night with my childhood hero was all it took. Brad Swift. He’s nearly ten years older and used to be one of the best professional soccer players in the world before he got injured. He was my childhood hero until we slept together and messed all that up. I thought I could put it down to just another stupid mistake, that he would go back to England and I would never see him again.
That was until he turned up at training as our new soccer coach.
The attraction we share is undeniable, but he's off limits. It's strictly forbidden for a coach to date a player. Too bad I've never been one to follow the rules and the temptation is just too much... So we slip up, make a pact to keep it fun. Nobody needs to know.
But secrets this good have a way of getting into the wrong hands. And when they do, danger is the name of the game.
Brad Swift. In a club here in LA. Not just any club but the same one that we chose to come to tonight. What are the chances?
My heart is pounding, so unlike me, and for a split second as I get a little closer, I have second thoughts. He's mighty fine, and he's in a suit, all clean-cut and swoony. I can feel my lady parts wake up, the throb with need already thumping through me. I could never resist a handsome man in a suit, especially this one.
I take a deep breath to get my nerves under control. I give myself a pep talk. Andy, we don't get nervous, remember? He is just a guy, no one special. You've got this. Checking behind me, I see my friends have all taken up the challenge as well and are heading to their selected guys.
Game on, girlfriends.
I sway my way through the club with an air of relaxed confidence, my eyesight set just past him to the bartender, but I take him in with my peripheral vision. And that's enough to trigger a hot flush of excitement, knowing how close I am to him, Brad Swift. This guy used to be a poster on my bedroom wall for fuck's sake, that's how obsessed with him I was. I wanted to be every bit as good a player as he was. It's why I started playing striker position in the first place and practicing scoring goals became an obsession. And he was mighty fine to look at, my first proper celebrity crush.
What am I going to say to him? Part of me wants to drop at his feet, thank him for being such an inspiration, tell him he's my hero and the reason I'm one of the top soccer players in the country. But that's not going to work here, not tonight, anyway. I'm playing a game, one I made up. And tonight, I'm a mechanic, thanks to Jasmine.
This guy would be used to getting the attention of any girl he wants, so I decide to ignore him instead. I walk straight past him to the bar, smiling at the cute bartender from earlier. I fix my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear in a flirtatious way. Standing close enough to Brad that he can't miss me, I lean over to get the bartender's attention. "Another Jameson, thanks," I purr.
He smiles with a nod of the head and pours my drink, placing it in front of me. I take it, swirling the amber-colored liquid around a few times, then taking a small sip. I turn toward Brad, who is now unashamedly checking me out. I raise a brow in his direction, like, what the fuck are you looking at? Then I lean back on the bar, sipping my drink as I take in my surroundings. Playing it as cool as I can, even though my heart is pounding out of my chest. I'm close enough that I can smell his aftershave, and it's intoxicating.
"Nice choice." He smiles my way, then turns to the bartender. "Another Jameson on the rocks." The bartender places his drink down in front of him. He has a swig then looks back to me. "You're not like the other girls hanging around here tonight."
That Australian accent... fuck, he sounds so sexy. I take another sip of my drink, trying to stay calm. He's going to come on to me. Acting uninterested works every time. Guys like this have overly inflated egos, and they can't stand the fact that a pretty girl might not be interested in them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm a contemporary romance author my novels feature swoony men, twists and turns and always a happily ever after.
I'm a busy mother of three pre-teens, who lives on the beautiful South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. I have always been a creative soul, with a background in fashion design, interior decoration, and floristry. I currently run a business as a wedding florist and stylist, but have always had a love for reading romance novels, something about how the story can transport you to another world entirely.
So in 2020 I decided to jot down some of my own ideas for romance stories, always with a happily ever after of course, and from that came my debut novel Always Fraser. From that moment I haven't looked back, writing has become a part of me. I have a long list of stories plotted and I look forward to being able to share all my stories with you soon. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I loved writing them, xx
This was a really awesome story. I really enjoyed it and it has a bit of suspense as the main lead Andrea has a stalker throughout the story. Former soccer player, Brad is in the process of divorce, is Andrea's new coach, former one night stand, and is around 35 to her age 24. This is an extremely forbidden story but also a second chance at love.
Andrea is into one night stands and has no time for anything except her love of soccer and her best friends and family. She plays hard at soccer and at night she can be a very bad girl. Sometimes thats with men and sometimes it's with women. Though in this story we only see her with men.
All that changes when Brad enters her life. Brad is something that is extremely forbidden as he can lose his job if she dates him, or anyone finds out. So, they both try and deny how much they feel for each other. But the heart wants what it wants and when Andrea ends up facing danger and a stalker, he starts to see what she means to him.
The stalker angle of the story was not that complicated, and I figured it out. But Andrea and Brad had no clue, and it was fun watching these two trying to keep her safe while also juggling a very forbidden relationship.
It was an awesome story, and I loved the forbidden relationship. They stalker kept my interest, and I really enjoyed this story. I am looking forward to reading Jasmine's story next.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Clean-living, wholesome, and with a constant smile plastered on her pretty face, Dee Jones is my antithesis.
She’s also what I’m told I need to polish my somewhat tarnished image – apparently being papped getting friendly with a fellow holiday maker on a sun lounger after your ex does a kiss-and-tell with the media isn’t exactly what Manchester Athletic deems great publicity for their bad boy midfielder.
A repair job is needed, and the club is hoping that the super shiny star player for the women’s team can transfer some of her good-girl sunshine stardust on to me.
But Dee hates me and I’m the last thing she wants to deal with right now, because Miss Dee has problems of her own.
Problems that could score her an own goal.
She’s meant to be my penalty, but will she let me be her kiss instead?
Penalty Kiss is the first standalone in the Manchester Athletic series. Meet the team in this grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, bad boy athlete romance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Annie lives in the north of England, not too far from the amazing city of Manchester. She is owned by several cats and many hens, narrowly avoiding being a mad cat woman by enslaving a very understanding husband.
She’s an avid reader of many genres and if she’s not writing a book, she’s usually reading one!
This is the start of a new series by this author. I have loved two of her previous series and so I was really excited to check out this newest series. It's about players on the Manchester Athletic Soccer Club and it takes place in Britain.
The characters we meet in this book is Rowan, who is the bad boy of the men's soccer club but also the star player and captain. When he creates two scandals, his team needs to clean up his image and so they send him to a summer soccer camp to inspire the kids attending.
We also meet Dee, who is the woman's soccer club team captain. She lives with her single mom sister and nephew. The single sister is very much absent in this book and a very bad mom and so Dee ends up taking care of her nephew. When her sister runs away with her latest boyfriend, Dee has no choice but to bring her nephew to the team's summer soccer camp.
Dee and Rowan are very much opposites, and they HATE each other. He lusts for her, but he also thinks she is no fun and looks down on him for his antics. Dee feels that he does not take soccer seriously and is a bad boy who just causes scandals.
When they both end up at the soccer camp, they manage to find middle ground and when they both love Dee's nephew they start to let down their walls.
I loved this book so much. The only character I did not like was Dee's sister. I adored Rowan. He is a guy who is very misunderstood. He likes to have fun and enjoy life and he is sometimes caught off guard. He is the fun guy and well Dee has not had much fun in her life and so I loved how he brings out her fun side as they really start to see each other. This is very much opposites attract romance and I loved the characters and cannot wait for the next book in the series.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Laura Pavlov writes sweet and sexy contemporary romance that will make you both laugh and cry. She is happily married to her college sweetheart, mom to two awesome almost-grown kids, and dog-whisperer to a couple of crazy puppies.
Laura resides in Las Vegas where she is living her own happily ever after.
This is the final book in the Willow Springs Magic Girl series and I am so sad its ending. Its been an awesome series which started 5 books back as the girls were seniors in high school. Now they are all 23 and college graduates and have all found love except for Ivy.
As the book begins we catch up with Ivy who is a wedding planner in town. Only her and Addy still live in town. Coco lives in Houston, Maura in Dallas and Gigi in Austin. They all have found love except for Ivy who was broken hearted when her boyfriend, Ty Greene, took off for Nashville when they graduated and blew their college plans. Now he is back in town for his sisters wedding who Ivy is planning and he tries to get in touch with her.
Ivy was absolutely awesome in this book. I LOVED how she reacted to Ty upon when she sees him for the first time in over 5 years. Best scene I have read in years. She was an awesome character and I loved how tough she is on Ty, and he so deserved everything he got. But he also saw the treasure she was and he was willing to work hard to make it up to Ivy and even as they start reconnecting again.
When these two reconnect, I loved how Ivy was with him. She was going to enjoy the here and now and then move on. I would have been more on Ty's side except that the things he wants for his future no longer matches with Ivy's dreams and honestly I didn't really understand Ty's views of his future. I felt sorry for him and his future I guess you could say. But he really loves Ivy and I loved how he loved her. And Ivy was such an awesome kick butt character that I loved how the grown up Ivy helped Ty to really grow up in this story and I loved watching him start to reach for his dreams as well.
The addition of the band to the story was awesome. I would love to see some stories with the other band members like Zach. I felt like I really got to see who Ty is when the band members come to town. Thats when I really started to like Ty and see into his heart. His music was just so special and I loved how he opens his heart to Ivy with the songs he wrote.
I loved the addition of Lucy in this story as she really is helping to guide Ty so he can move on from his past. And I loved that Coco and Addy and the other girls do the same thing for Ivy.
The ending was so awesome I cried buckets of tears. I loved these girls and I loved the extra chapters at the end so we get to glimpse into the characters after the book ends. I am so going to miss the Willow Magic Girls. This was one of the best series I have ever read.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
TEAGAN HUNTER is a Missouri-raised gal but currently lives in South Carolina with her Marine veteran husband, where she spends her days begging him for a cat. She survives off coffee, pizza, and sarcasm. When she's not writing, you can find her binge-watching various TV shows, especially Supernatural and One Tree Hill. She enjoys cold weather, buys more paperbacks than she'll ever read, and never says no to brownies.
This is book 2 in a series about players on a hockey team and them finding love. It easily stands alone, but I do suggest reading the first book, Puck Shy, to see how the characters met and also because the first couple is also in this book.
This is very much a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a hockey theme and I absolutely loved every minute of it. In this story Beauty is Ryan who is best friends with Harper from Puck Shy. Harper fell for Collin in the first book and when they had issues Ryan and Collin's best friend, Rhodes, helped get them back together. Rhodes has a very nasty scar he got from a hockey accident on his face and his nickname is "The Beast."
This was an awesome story with a fake marriage and a waking up in Vegas married storyline. Both Ryan and Rhodes have horrible exes and that kind of binds them together during that one night. They form a friendship and after their one night, Rhodes asks Ryan to stay married to him and he will help her out with her grandmother.
This was a really fun story with lots of cuteness, romance, hot scenes, and fun text messages that the author is known for. I fell in love with this couple and I adored the whole story from beginning to ending.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
J.R. Rogue first put pen to paper at the age of fifteen after developing an unrequited high school crush & has never stopped writing about heartache. She has published multiple volumes of poetry and novels.
This is a brand-new author for me, but it is also third in a series about characters within the same world. I was told it's a standalone and it really was a book that stands alone though it's the third in the series. I never felt lost reading it or that I missed anything by only reading this book
Honestly Jo is what we call a hot mess. Her life is extremely messy. Some of the history I didn't always understand because it dealt with characters from other books (maybe). Jo was crucified in the media in the past when she did not deserve that and so she HATES Tristan, and he HATES her for creating those feelings inside his heart and soul.
This is their second chance at love, and they have to see past their hate for each other and decide if they can let each other in and trust each other. Because of their messy past they have lots of stumbling blocks from meddling sisters to exes and agents.
It was a really extremely well told story with a complicated back history. I really loved Jo so much. I love that she really grows in this book and changes so much. At times I did not love Tristan because he blamed her a lot for his short comings, and he at least admitted to that. She was a very strong woman but also an extremely broken and lonely one but also one who has no friends. Tristan had everything, a good family, money, adulation and yet he didn't really feel happy, and he had no idea what would make him happy. Throughout the book he has to figure out what would make him happy and if he has the guts to go after it. This made for an absolute riveting story, and I could not put it down. I was heartbreaking awesome, and I loved every minute of it.
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
