Showing results by author "Smartypants Romance" in All Categories

Rian Thompson thought she joined the gym to get healthy. Little did she know she was about to add 190 pounds of swoonworthy abdominal muscles and arrogance to her life.

Gabriel is a security expert for Cipher Security, and a former UN Peacekeeper with a fierce protective streak that finds its focus on the beautiful P. I., Shane. Their attraction is like an elephant in a room full of breakable things, and figuring out how to trust each other with their hearts, and maybe their lives, is the most fragile thing of all.

The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn’t need a prince — or broody and taciturn ranger — to save her. Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry.

Daisy Payton has everything. Exceptional grades. Impeccable clothes. Model family. Trevor Boone has nothing. Abandoned as a child. Raised by distant relatives. Constantly reminded he's a burden. Trevor's lived at the edges of opulence for years, having all he's ever desired dangled just out of reach. But his ambition is finally about to pay off, and nothing will distract him from his goal - finishing college top of his class and starting life, on his own terms. When Daisy and Trevor meet, can they learn to put their ambitions aside and fall, or will they lose it all?

Lola Landry stares through the window of her locked car with the keys in the ignition and the radio blaring Beck’s “Loser”. While standing there and sweltering in the soupy Tennessee humidity, she wonders how her orderly life had crashed and burned so badly. Then her high school nemesis saunters up in all of his tall, strapping fireman-to-the-rescue glory, slapping her with the humiliating proof that it can always get worse. When the uber-confident Jedediah Lawson requests a date in return for popping her lock, a lightbulb goes off.

Naomi Winters will be 40 soonish, and she’s only been with one man. One night. One time. Long ago. She believes everything happens for a reason, and the universe spoke about Nathan Ryder. Nathan Ryder isn’t the same man who hightailed his bike out of Green Valley, 18 years ago. As a rule breaker, women are one area he acts a fool. Case in point, the local librarian. He can’t get a read on her, but she’s one risk he’s willing to take. Again.

New park ranger Daphne Baum is a reformed good girl. Breaking free from her overbearing family as soon as she turned 18, she’s been on her own ever since. The life of a park ranger, moving from park to park, suits her just fine. Though still a rule follower, she’s okay with a little sin in her life. Every generation of Hill men has its black sheep. The general consensus among the family is that Odin Hill is the lucky bastard this go around. At 17, he blew out of town like an angry tornado only to return 15 years later withdrawn and secretive.

I don’t care what other people think as long, as they leave me alone to focus on my research on soil microbiology. Plus, I walk with a cane thanks to a childhood accident. I have scars on my face. And if that isn’t enough to scare people off, my bad attitude and general grumpiness seal the deal. Which is just the way I like it. Except, I’ve been short listed for one of the most prestigious academic fellowships around. To win it, I’ll have to give a series of speeches. On a stage. With an audience. While being filmed.

When a mysterious silver fox becomes intrigued with this small town’s most disliked society woman, he finds she’s more than a little trouble and possibly a whole lot of heart.

You know what I don’t have time for? The brooding, dark-eyed former love of my life showing up when my life is finally settling down. I don’t have time for Hunter Buchanan and that intense look in his eyes. The way he loved me so perfectly all those years ago.

Vali Erickson is the classic middle child - misunderstood, underestimated, and overlooked. He’s fine with it. Really. The overlooked part is actually serving him well during this phase of life. Margaret O’Neal is an only child who has led a sheltered life. She’s used to being a wallflower. Her ability to blend into the background is what allows her to maintain her anonymity as a gossip columnist for the Green Valley Ledger.

In Green Valley, Tennessee, everybody knows everybody, but nobody knows Sabrina Logan. Sabrina has been hiding in plain sight for years. Living her life inside of books, dutifully helping her family, and hoping no one will notice her. So far? Mission accomplished! Yet when sexy - and distrustful - Sheriff Wyatt Monroe returns to town with his daughters, he definitely notices the quiet librarian everyone else overlooks. The single dad can’t seem to shake thoughts of shy Sabrina. Without quite understanding the impulse, Wyatt makes his mission finding her again.

Life lesson from Grady Buchanan: If you're going to fall in love with the untouchable girl in town, don't hire her as your only employee. Even after he bungled the interview with Magnolia MacIntyre, he knew better than to hire her. The list of why it's a bad idea is a long one. Her father could ruin his fledgling business. She is completely overqualified. And he’s attracted to her.

There are lots of assumptions people make about rock stars. Shallow. Player. Addict. The truth? I'm none of those. The even bigger truth: The only opinion I care about is hers, and she hates me. Her, as in Gwen Matthews, my twin brother's best friend, the unrequited love of my life. She thinks I'm a liar and a jerk, which is why I pretend to be my brother when she needs help one night. Except that Gwen is a genius. Literally. So it doesn't take her long to figure out it's me and not my brother, but maybe, just maybe, she's willing to give me a second chance.

Forrest Winters isn’t just a federal fire marshal; he’s a thorn in Ranger Sierra Betts’ side. The way he swings his big axe, fixes her with his chameleon gray eyes, and talks about his jurisdiction has a way of breaking her concentration. He has a way of showing up everywhere he doesn’t belong, including Greenbrier Ranger Station. And he really needs to quit stealing her bacon bites.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to force us to see who we are. The real struggle is accepting what we learn. For Beverly Townsen, nothing could be closer to the truth. Virtually a shut-in, Beverly has pulled back from Green Valley’s community, preferring the isolation of her farmhouse and her daily routine of viewing home improvement television shows. When the opportunity arises for her own home improvement and a personal re-assessment, she’s not so excited about the reality of real life versus DIY programs.

Librarian Maxine Peters lives her life behind the scenes. By day, she's a buttoned-up cataloguing whiz in the basement of the Green Valley Public Library. By night, she's secretly dominating in an online roleplaying game as the legendary Maximus_Damage. Her in-game persona has the skills to back up the hype. But every hero has an enemy; every saga, a villain. And by her own invitation, Maximus’ arch nemesis, Wrath, has just landed in Green Valley.

After catching her husband in a compromising position, Finley Granger finds herself in a new hell: reentering the dating world. When she moves in with her grandmother, her great-aunt, and their best friend, Finley finds herself surrounded by a trio of well-meaning yet bumbling matchmakers. In spite of their efforts, Finley only has eyes for one person, and that’s Zeke Masters - the 6’4”, impossibly built, and ridiculously good-looking new man in town. Along with her nether regions, Finley’s journalistic spidey-senses tingle as to why he’s on sabbatical from Seattle.

Living with her mother seemed like a good idea at the time. But Elliott Donovan's living arrangements are not working for her anymore. Desperate to get back on her financial feet after a divorce and out from under her mother's thumb, Elliott takes a job in the child care center at Weight Expectations, a local gym. It has everything she needs - family friendly hours, more pay than she expected, and a super-cute trainer who just happens to have part of his house for rent.

I'm Levi Buchanan, and until five years ago, I thought the legend of my family's curse was a load of crazy, Southern nonsense. No curse can make you fall in love at first sight. No curse can force a true, deep, passionate, all-consuming love that will haunt you all the days of your life.