Showing results by narrator "Virginia Rose" in All Categories

When you work hard and have the bank account to prove it, you're entitled to play hard. I've seen some crazy things. I've caused some crazy scenes. And there's no shame in my game. But I'm still knocked off my stilettos when an insane chain of events leads to me inheriting a baby. The craziest part? The baby comes with a by-the-books, no-nonsense retired Marine who's so regimented that I wouldn't be surprised if he irons his boxer shorts.

I don't do boyfriends. Or dating. Or random hookups. Not when fictional men do it so much better, and not when my heart has been through the wringer. So when retired MMA fighter Matt Haywood crashes into my life, I'm not impressed. Quite the opposite actually. I avoid him at all costs. At least, I try.

After a decade of hard work and dedication, Jayme Caldwell’s dreams of a Seattle bakery are whisked out from under her. She’s licking her wounds in Killeen, Texas, living with her memaw, Winnie, while contemplating her future. Of course, Memaw knows exactly the kind of future her granddaughter needs…and it starts with a handsome young man she tricks into having dinner with Jayme. She’d be upset…if the man wasn’t something straight out of any red-blooded woman’s fantasies.

Eight years ago, I gave Grayson Price a piece of my heart. To him, I was the strange girl whose mom had just abandoned her. To me, he was a savior, an anchor, someone who stood beside me on that beach. The next time I saw him, I was 20, and he was 36. He didn't remember me. And when he flirted...I didn't tell him. By the time he found out, it was too late. We tried to deny our desire, but our attraction was too enticing.

Anna McAlister needs a new life. But that doesn’t mean she needs a new man. After leaving her fiancé and Chicago behind, she promises herself no dating until she finds what she’s looking for. But meeting one seriously hot and determined detective has her questioning herself. Calvin Miller is that detective, and he’s been burned by women in the past. It’s easy for him to sleep alone and focus on his work, but the moment he lays eyes on Anna, he starts imagining sexy nights with her wrapped in his sheets. Maybe it’s time to get back out there.

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Beautiful Disaster comes a story of a fiercely independent war widow who falls for a protective hotshot firefighter in this gripping contemporary romance.

Reed took all my firsts like a shiny present. He made promises with silky words I greedily kept as truths. But the moment I faltered, he took everything away. Now we're both guilty of sins. As we come together for Grandfather Ian's funeral, it's time to face what I've done - what we've done. The boy I've loved since age eight is now a man, his rage palpable, his turquoise eyes piercing me with an intensity that sets me on fire. Each delicious kiss seems to peel away our ugly past - a past we're desperate to escape.

I don’t know what love is anymore. Well, that’s not entirely true, but I’m going to tell you a little secret: I’ve lost the spark. You know the kind of spark I’m talking about? Where butterflies take flight in your stomach from two hands innocently colliding. Yeah, that spark. Except I haven't felt that feeling in forever; there is nothing left inside of me. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem - but I’m a writer on a serious deadline, and my editor is breathing down my neck for a romantic Nicholas Sparks-type love story.

We were Army Rangers, the best of the best. And then one day, everything that we worked so hard to become was ripped away. Now, we're in some podunk town, trying to find a sense of normal among the crazy, and learn how to live again. That gets a hell of a lot harder to do when a virus spreads mercilessly across the country, killing 85 percent of the people who contract it. In the midst of the panic, we're tasked with one last rescue mission. It's just our luck that the fool we're rescuing doesn't believe that the world as we know it is actually ending.

Porter “Oz” Reed knows as well as anyone the damage words can do. So while he’s not looking for a relationship, he has no problem standing outside his apartment looking intimidating as his sweet neighbor finally kicks her verbally abusive ex to the curb. Just in case. But it’s Oz who’s punched in the gut when, at that precise moment, his 10-year-old nephew Logan is dropped on his doorstep.

Fans call me the king of the water. I'm focused, driven, and, most importantly, I win. Life as a professional swimmer comes with sacrifices, but they’ve never worried me. I’m used to life with little room for anything but training, eating, and sleeping. Nothing more, nothing less. When a son I knew nothing about lands on my doorstep—and a crazy but very beautiful nanny shortly after—my life is turned upside down. Allowing any change in my life could put my goals and dreams in jeopardy, and I’ve worked too hard and too long for them.

Being ripped from her mundane life by a swarm of police officers is not what Rae Chapin expected when she woke up this morning. Accused of a series of murders she didn’t commit, Rae doesn’t have anyone to rely on. Except him. Alec Bronson, the popular boy who broke her heart all those years ago - now a smoking hot man - is her only hope of proving her innocence and finding the person eager to kill everyone she loves.

After achieving the goals I set for myself, I walked away from my professional hockey career. It was a tough decision, but the right one at the time. When the Titans organization approached me about joining the team they were rebuilding following a devastating plane crash, I felt a passion for the game and a competitive spirit I hadn’t felt in years. The opportunity to make a huge difference to a lot of people spoke to me, and I accepted their offer and headed to Pittsburgh without a second thought.

Ali Rain: Sometimes I think to myself, "How did I get here?" Then the pain hits and I remember...it's because she's gone. I now live in a new town, go to a new school, and I'm supposed to be moving on with my new life. Only, I no longer know who I am anymore. Dancing is all I have left and every day I feel completely alone. Silence has become the theme song to my life. She said to find some joy and light, but I don't know how. Mostly, I feel surrounded in darkness...that is, until I meet him.

As a civilian contractor, Sierra Clarkson thought she’d found the perfect way to serve her country, short of joining the military...until she was kidnapped from a base in Afghanistan. Turns out terrorists don’t care if you’re a soldier or not; everyone bleeds the same. Even worse, no one knows she’s been taken. Her missing belongings point to desertion - which means no one is looking for her, either. But someone is. Fred “Grover” Groves never forgot the redheaded spitfire working the chow line on a base in the Afghani desert.

I knew the risks of this job when I signed on with Jameson Force Security. Knew my time as a marine would prepare me for the danger I would face. But no amount of training could have ever prepared me for the helplessness of watching my teammates die, the agonizing mental and physical pain of torture, or the despair of captivity. Returning home to Pittsburgh following a mission gone wrong, I am riddled with guilt and haunted by nightmares. I spend my days trying to regain the parts of myself I lost in that desert, the pieces that made me the Malik Fournier I once was.

He’s the world’s most alpha Marine and the last man I should be letting jingle my bells this holiday season. But when Clint steps in to rescue me - from a murderous goose, a rogue reindeer, and the ghost of Christmas Right Now causing trouble in my bakery - I can’t help but wonder if we’re meant to be more than friends.

Brant Talbot runs a glitzy network of high-end bars in New York City, enjoying all the benefits of the lavish lifestyle he's worked so hard to achieve. When he learns that his estranged father is dying, he must return to his family’s Kentucky horse farm - and to a past he thought he left behind. While facing long-buried truths, he collides with his father’s secretary, Isabelle Farris. Despite his undeniable attraction to the beautiful, independent young woman, he sees secrets in her eyes and believes she has designs on Graystone Hill.

I cut loose for one night and they fell asleep before we sealed the deal. It’s for the best - I’ll never see Ben again but James and I have to work together.... Until the restaurant closes and we go our separate ways. Months later, what are the odds that they’ll turn up right when I’m meeting a blind date?

Filthy, sexy and full of surprises, Juliet is so hot she has me on fire. I’ve met my match and I can’t help going back for more. Then there’s Madison…she’s sweet, funny and awakens in me a fierce need to protect her. But I don’t do relationships. I don’t usually do the same woman twice. Juliet and Madison: Two very different women have got me completely hooked. Who will I choose? I know who I should choose, but I never said I was the hero of this story, or even the good guy. And besides, who wants to be good, when it feels so good being bad?