Showing results by author "Monica Murphy" in All Categories

Working at Bliss, Sarah Harrison deals with all sorts of...interesting clientele. Yet no one sparks her interest more than Jared Gaines, the ultra-rich, ultra-sexy businessman who frequents her shop, buying delicate little “gifts” for the women in his life. But one day, Jared sends Sarah a gift from Bliss. Then another - and another. So when Sarah walks into his office demanding to know why, he makes her an offer she somehow can’t refuse: be his fake girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother’s engagement party.

Caroline Abbott loves her job - helping engaged couples pick out the perfect save-the-date cards and invitations for their dream wedding. Working at Noteworthy means she has to deal with the occasional bridezilla, but Caroline’s always up for the challenge. Until one particular bridezilla, whose fiancé happens to be the boy Caroline shared her first kiss with, walks into the stationery store. Alexander Wilder is all grown up now, helping run his family’s successful luxury hotel chain, and is somehow even better looking than she remembers.

Eleanor Murray is tired. Tired of going on awkward dates. Tired of meeting men who just aren’t that into her. Tired of being set up on blind dates by her well-meaning friends. She is a believer of true love, of finding that happily ever after, and she wants it. She deserves it. But at the rate she’s going, she’s pretty sure it’s never going to happen. Until a friend creates a profile for Eleanor on a new dating app. At first, she’s reluctant. But then she makes a connection on Rate a Date, and this gorgeous, confident guy almost seems too good to be true.... 

Stella Ricci is bored. Her overprotective family barely let her out of their sight, despite the fact she’s a grown woman. Yes, she loves her job at her family’s café, and she’s the best barista in the entire Monterey Peninsula, but is that enough? She’s thinking no. But what else can she do? Enter Carter Abbott. Burnt out after the never-ending grind of selling high-end real estate in Los Angeles, he’s returned home, unsure of what to do next. He needs someplace to crash temporarily until he gets back on his feet.

Kelsey Phillips is over the dating scene. All that time and energy perfecting your profile and taking just the right picture and articulating exactly what you’re looking for, only to get the same sleazy propositions? No, thanks. She’s doing just fine on her own, so there’s no point in a fruitless hunt for “the one” that doesn’t exist. Besides, she already has the perfect man in her life. Theo is the type of friend who’s always there for a laugh, a hug, or a drink - and no propositions.

Newly broke girl Alexandria Asher just wants to live a normal life. After her parents are sent to prison on embezzlement charges, she enrolls in college under her mother's maiden name and tries her best to pretend she's someone else. Tristan Prescott is everything Alex is trying to avoid. A seemingly egotistical, lazy, rich jerk, she dumps her beer on his head when he comes on to her one night at a party. This only spurs Tristan into action. He loves nothing more than a challenge.

Jake Callahan. Prince of the popular crowd. My mortal enemy. Gorgeous. All the girls want him. Quarterback. All the boys want to be his friend. He’s the most popular boy in the senior class. And he hates me. Or so I thought. What I mistook for hatred turns out to be…interest. There’s that thin line, right? It makes me crazy. I can’t stand it. Attraction, chemistry, whatever it is, I also can’t resist it. And neither can he.

It's bad enough Jade Frost's boyfriend dragged her to a boring poker game. It's even worse that he actually threw her into the betting pot during an intense round - and lost. Talk about the perfect excuse for Jade to make him her ex-boyfriend. Now she supposedly belongs to the ultrarich, extremely gorgeous Shep Prescott. He could have anything he wants, yet he seems to be in hot pursuit of her. No matter how rude, how snarky, how impossible she acts, it doesn't stop him.

Stuck spending the summer with his screwed-up family, Gabriel Walker is bored out of his mind and looking for an adventure. And he seems to find it with the hot girl who lives next door. The attraction between them is instant and electric. Soon they're spending every stolen minute together. Talk about the perfect summer fling.

My first crush. My first kiss. The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time. Willingly. We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway as they avoid each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year.... The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored.

Candice Gaines loves Christmas. Not only does she bask in the twinkling lights, sing Christmas carols, and go crazy with the decorations, she’s also in the giving spirit - donating much of her time and wealth to various charities in the local area. Charlie Sullivan despises Christmas. Though it keeps his family afloat, considering they own Sullivan Family Christmas Tree Farm, the main provider for Christmas trees on the Monterey Peninsula. He’d much rather work among the trees than deal with people. 

People say the youngest child has it easy, but nothing can be further from the truth. Unlike my two sisters, Violet and Lily, I'm never in the limelight. I just work my butt off for Fleur Cosmetics and get little to no thanks for it. I've been pushed too far one too many times, and I'm finally brave enough to do something about it. Maybe my newfound courage has something to do with the amazing pink and white diamond necklace I wear to the party in Cannes.

Eli Bennett: quarterback at our biggest rival high school and my brother’s worst enemy. So why can’t I stop thinking about him? For one, he’s totally gorgeous, and boy, does he know it. He’s an arrogant trash talker who brings drama wherever he goes. And for some reason, he’s set his sights on me.

Ava Callahan. Love of my life. Wrecker of my soul. I would have sworn on anything that what we shared was real. But she broke my trust. And then my heart. I don’t think I can piece it back together without her, but I’m sure going to try. I’m better off on my own, anyway, right? Who needs girls when you have football? If only I believed that. Look, when you need someone in your life, you don’t want to let her go. And I can’t let go of Ava. I love her. She loves me. Nothing can convince me otherwise. 

Designing wedding cakes is Maisey Henderson’s passion. She puts her heart and soul into every cake she makes, especially since she’s such a believer in true love. But then Tucker McCloud rolls back into town, reminding her that love is a complete joke. The pro football player is the hottest thing to come out of Cunningham Falls - and the boy who broke Maisey’s heart back in high school. He claims he wants another chance. She says absolutely not. But Maisey’s refusal is the ultimate challenge to Tucker.

Sydney Walker's new job is perfect. As the live-in nanny to the most famous quarterback in the NFL and his beautiful wife, she couldn't have it any better. Their kids are adorable. Her bosses are more than generous. Plus, there are hot football players at the house all the time. Life can't get much better than this. Until her life turns into an absolute nightmare. The media is abuzz with rumors that she and her boss, Drew Callahan, are having a torrid affair.

I've moved through life doing what's expected of me. I'm the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and survived. The one who devoted herself to her family's business empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I. When Zachary got a promotion, however, he left me in the dust. Maybe it's for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me.

I knew from the moment I first saw her she was the one. The only girl I could ever want. The only girl I could ever love. She is light. I am darkness. She is innocent. I've done too much. She is good. I am bad. She is my every dream. I should be her every nightmare. We come from different worlds. She's...perfect. And I'm...not. Somehow she wants me anyway.

I knew from the moment I first saw him he was the one. The only boy I could ever want. The only boy I could ever love. They say he's bad for me. But I know he's not. Until the day he rejects me. And breaks my heart. Completely. Everything changes in the blink of an eye. My entire life as I've known it is...gone. Secrets are revealed. Promises once made are irrevocably broken. There's no way my family can get back to what we once were. So when Nicholas Fairfield walks back into my life like he never left it, I'm furious.

I'm in trouble. Again. And instead of facing my problems head-on, I've run away. Far away this time, and no one can catch me - not my two younger sisters, Violet and Rose; not my father, my grandmother, or that witch, Pilar, who wants to take control of my family's cosmetics company. Now I'm in Hawaii, enjoying the sun and sand and water, where nobody knows the hot mess known as Lily Fowler. And I'm loving every minute of it. But someone is watching me. Following me. He's gorgeous.