Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Contemporary

I need a nanny. Not a distraction. I certainly do not need a twentysomething man with a devastating smile, tattooed forearms, and an easy charm that could unravel a woman twice as composed as me. But when my daughter gets kicked out of after-school care (again) and my flaky nanny ghosts us (again), Austin Calloway moves into the duplex next door—and right into our lives. Now he’s helping with homework, cooking dinner shirtless, and showing up with coffee like he’s always belonged here. He’s too young. Too familiar. Too good with my daughter. Too close. And the worst part?

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I started planning my future at the age of six. I knew the college I wanted, the career I needed, and the boy I would marry. Only he wasn’t supposed to break up with me in such a spectacular fashion. Now, I’m tossing my planner and breaking my rules.

Serena Brooks is a bestselling author of erotic fiction. She knows how to write a happy ending but hasn't managed to find one of her own. Divorced and alone, she has no one to turn to when a stalker begins to threaten her life. The cops don't believe her. Her ex-husband thinks she's making the whole story up. She has no one left to turn to except a pair of hired bodyguards. They promise to guard her body, but no one can protect her heart.

It's official: my step bro is the biggest himbo ever to himbo. He's a massive blond beefcake with a soft heart and an over-eager smile. The mere sight of him incites a shaking hot rage in me. He's everywhere. He's around me all the time. So sweet and gentle that it makes me feel wild. I see him and smell him everywhere. When I can't see him or smell him, I hear him. The wall between our bedrooms is paper thin. I can't help it—I hear what he does in his room when he thinks he's alone. I hear everything.

Jillian Braden’s quick, creative thinking and fierce determination have helped her singlehandedly build a fashion empire. She doesn’t mince words and demands respect, but beneath all that armor, she carries the Braden curse of a soft heart. But that soft heart isn’t looking to start a family and doesn’t know the first thing about mollycoddling. When famed rock star Johnny Bad hires her to design his tour wardrobe and then postpones it at the last minute for the third time, she’s had enough. Jillian is determined to set him straight.

Reese Maxwell meets her happy-ever-after in Layla Hagen's latest. What starts as a pretend romance soon turns into so much more...Newly divorced Dominic Waldorf is the most coveted bachelor in Chicago. At least, that’s what he thinks. I’d describe him as more of a Neanderthal with a really nice backside. When I accidentally spill champagne on him at a charity event, he accuses me of hitting on him. Then later, I run into him in an empty coat room, and he’s convinced.

I met him on the worst day of my life—the desperate boy with a gun and the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen. We saved each other’s lives and then walked away, because a hitchhiking criminal and one of the richest men in the world can’t possibly be made for each other. I’m a void, silenced by my power-hungry family and pushed into an arranged marriage like the obedient pawn I am. I’ve given up hoping for anything more.

Theo Brooks is hard not to notice. With his coy smirk, rock-hard abs, and skilled agility on the ice, he's the cockiest of all the jocks and, unfortunately for me, my new roommate. When Admissions mixes up my first and last name, and I end up living in the male dorms, I feel my perfectly tied schedule loosening with every string Theo pulls. And he likes to pull every single one. It isn't until I find out that my long-time boyfriend is sampling other girls that things get interesting. Theo proposes a solution to my problem.

Good girl. I am good. I’m good at my job, running my company, and making a filthy amount of money. But when a tattooed, dark-haired stranger a decade younger than me whispers Good Girl in my ear—I don’t want to be good anymore. Behind closed doors, Salt shows me things I’ve never experienced. He holds me captive with his burning touch and fevered demands of submission. He brings me to my knees and makes me yearn to stay there forever, even as the clock ticks… Everyone says what we’re doing is sinful. That a woman like me shouldn’t have desires like this.

A summer at his grandparents' South Dakota ranch is not 11-year-old Cooper Sullivan's idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he's discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn't as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop's annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker's body.

The NHL’s been at my door since I was 18, but I’d never leave the Swedish Hockey League—not while raising my little brother. But now he’s grown, and the Carolina Reapers show up with my greatest weakness: Langley Pierce, their new head of PR. I’ve never been able to say no to her. She’s fierce, independent, and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. She also has a stubborn streak wider than my entire country. One comment from her smart mouth about never dating again, and I propose. No, really, I actually propose.

Cole Winchester loves being one of the most popular bachelors in New York. He values his freedom and all the perks it comes with. But when he notices Laney Smith at the restaurant where he’s celebrating his most recent business deal, he can’t look away. Everything from her curves to her humor and easy smile completely captivates him. Laney’s sole focus for the past few years has been her surgical residency. Her work is her passion and her refuge. Laney has loved and lost, and she can’t open up again, despite trying her best.

In Searching for Love: Zev Braden and Carly Dylan have known each other their whole lives. Their close-knit families were sure they were destined to marry - until a devastating tragedy struck, breaking the two lovers apart. Over the next decade, Zev, a nomadic treasure hunter, rarely returned to his hometown, and Carly became a chocolatier and built a whole new life across the country. When a chance encounter brings them back into each other’s lives, can they find the true love that once existed, or will shattered dreams and broken hearts prevail?

From a young age, the only thing in life I've ever taken seriously is hockey. I'm not the guy anyone—besides family and teammates—can count on. This is all true. At least, until a certain curly-haired, blue-eyed goddess comes to me looking for an easy hookup. And hook her up I do. But what's supposed to be a one-night stand doesn't stop at one night. What's meant to be easy sure as hell gets complicated fast. It becomes clear that Addison LaConte is just as much my savior as she is my demise.

As another member of my friend group finds his happily ever after, I'm starting to think I've missed the chance at my own. I keep myself plenty busy with the fire station and my contracting business, but when a mandatory rest order from my fire chief leaves me with extra time on my hands, my friends convince me to change my routine and step outside my comfort zone in order to find what I'm looking for.

I never expected this. I didn’t want to go to another fraternity party, but when my friend pulls me in, I somehow find myself hiding in a corner with...him. Dillon Connolly, the smirking, so-called good guy with the shadows in his eyes. A single glance, a sweet smile, and I let myself have one night of giving in. Only I have to promise myself not to fall in love. No matter the cost.

Meet the billionaires: Kaden Barnes, the difficult billionaire who can't keep a personal assistant until sexy, independent Lexie Parker enters his life; Lucas Monroe, the tech-God who could have any woman he wants but Maxie Sullivan, the one he desires; Derek West who rose from poverty and now has the chance to claim Cassie Storms, the rich girl who hurt him in the past; and bad boy Julian Dane, seeking redemption from Kendall Parker, a woman who has every reason not to trust him. These bad boys are going down, and they're going to enjoy every minute.

I won't fall for my ex, even if I move in with him…famous last words. Conned out of my business I have no other choice but to move back home to Chicago. I’m determined to rebuild everything, but I’m so broke that I can’t even afford to pay rent.

Holland Beck – yes, after the country, and no, the story isn’t a good one – hates flying. On the brink of boarding a flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles, she panics. She can’t do it. Travelling triggers all the trauma of her past, the childhood memories she’s done her very best to forget. But thanks to cool, calm and collected Xander, Holland somehow manages to board the plane. Twelve hours and six thousand miles later, they touch down in LA and aren’t quite able to say goodbye. They make arrangements to meet at the end of Santa Monica Pier in three days time.

This Psych 312 assignment just might send me off the deep end. Determining whether love at first sight really exists with Robbie Moravian as my project partner of all people? He’s the sappiest man alive, so upbeat I could scream, and clearly rooting for happy endings at every turn. How does he not learn from experience considering our own meet-cute last semester almost got us expelled? But we both need to pass this course to graduate. So we’re interviewing five random couples about their meet-cutes and relationships and spending all this time together. Which is certainly...educational.