The week I got fired, I landed a government job in Paris.
Go, Lucie!
The bad news? My boss, Max Delaroche, looks like a remastered Greek god, as dazzling as the alarm in my head.
Whoop, whoop, whoop! Run while you can!
But the man intrigues me.
Wildly charismatic, he has no office savvy. He skips important staff meetings because they bore him to death. He won’t even say where he’s from!
Instead, he keeps staring at me like he’s on a treasure hunt and I have the map.
Who is this guy, and what exactly does he do here?
Could he be an undercover cop investigating government agencies?
Haha. I’m très hilarious.
If a cop can afford bespoke suits, then I’m a princess.
You shall call me Your Royal Highness, Lucie la Magnifique!
Looking for a romantic comedy that’s laugh-out-loud funny, steamy, and full of thrills? Look no further than The Boss Prince, book 1 in Alix Nichols’s new IT’S RAINING ROYALS series!
About the Author
Alix Nichols is a caffeine addict, a fan of Mr. Darcy and an award-winning author. She pens sexy romantic comedies and sci-fi romances that “keep you hanging off the edge of your seat” (RT Book Reviews). At the age of six, she released her first book. It featured highly creative spelling on a dozen pages stitched together and bound in velvet paper. Decades later, she still writes. Her spelling has improved (somewhat). Currently she has one complete romance series “wide” and three in Kindle Unlimited. She lives in France with her family, including an almost-human dog.
**To read a rom-com and a sci-fi novelette FREE, visit: alixnichols.com/freebies (just copy and paste into your browser).**
Mothers. Meddling. Matchmaking. What could possibly go wrong?
Best friends Rina Thorn and Maggie Barnes decide it’s time to help their not-even-looking-for-love children find their happily ever afters.
Ander Thorn will do anything for his mother Rina—except get married. But when he collides with his mother’s beautiful home renovator, more than walls come tumbling down. Noelle DeWitt refuses to give into her attraction to the arrogant and aggravating man. At first. Time and proximity chisel her resolve. She falls hard for a commitment-averse Ander, which poses a dilemma because she wants forever.
***
Police officer Finn Riley reluctantly agrees to help his neighbor Maggie find a husband for her daughter, Jennifer. After he meets her, Finn puts his name at the top of the soul mate list. Romance is on Jennifer’s backburner until she meets Finn. Their strong attraction seems impossible to ignore until Jennifer discovers he’s been helping her mother in the crazy matchmaking scheme. Can their relationship survive when it began with deception?
Other Books in the Matchmaker Chronicles Duets series:
Lynn Mapp is a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, teacher, writer…obviously a multi-faceted diamond, princess cut. Lynn was a navy brat, born in San Diego, California. While she was born in California, her Idaho roots are deep. Her mother and grandfather were Idaho natives. She has always looked for happily ever afters, the light after the darkness. Families and humor are central in her life and her stories.
Janis McCurry – I was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, nestled in the beautiful Treasure Valley. I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else. We have four distinct seasons, mountains, lakes and deserts. My sisters and I were close growing up and we all still live in Boise. I could no more leave out a family connection than I could the romances I put in my novels. I write contemporary romance because I believe in happy endings, whether with a first-time love or a second chance love. An inveterate reader and moviegoer, I like romantic comedies, drama, and adventure themes.
Grace Morgan has been on the music scene long enough to know the life of sex, drugs & rock & roll is just a dream. But after a messy divorce, Grace wants to give her dream of being a music journalist one last shot.
She moves to LA with her 21-year-old foster son, Zeus. They live in a motel on cup noodles and hope, until Grace finally gets a break: a story about Inez Carter, hot-mess frontwoman of the popular band Karma Korn.
The story delivers more sex, drugs and rock & roll than Grace bargained for. Karma Korn’s drummer, Nelson, has Grace rethinking her post-divorce vow of celibacy. And after they’re invited to an elite Hollywood rave, where they mistakenly drink the electric Kool-Aid, Zeus is scouted to be the lead guitarist for another star band.
However, the story soon goes sideways, and things aren’t adding up. Someone is spreading rumors about Grace, trying to sabotage her career and reputation. Then someone tries to kill her. Grace is left frantically trying to connect the dots in the dwindling hope she’ll be able to salvage the story, her relationship with Nelson, and her life.
Excerpt
Grace Morgan was fast asleep, dreaming her ex-husband’s testicles were caught in his bicycle chain.
He stood on the corner of a busy intersection, tugging at his anatomy with a consternated expression, but they wouldn’t budge. Eventually, he gave up and trudged down the damp sidewalk, his spandex shorts wrapped around his ankles, his nut sack stretching out like silly putty as he dragged his bicycle behind him.
A cell phone’s buzzing jangled the pleasant tableau, and it slipped away. Grace sighed, rolled over, and peeled her eyelids open.
“Ohmygod!” She flinched from the staring, golden-hazel eyes of her adult foster son, Zeus.
“It’s your phone, Gracie,” Zeus said. His face was scant inches from hers as her phone continued to buzz against her pressboard nightstand.
Grace struggled to get air into her uncooperative lungs. “What the hell are you doing, Zeus?”
He gazed at her unblinkingly. “It’s your phone.”
Grace sat up, blinking blearily at the walls of the please-don’t-tell motel.
“Don’t answer it,” Zeus said. “They just want to talk about the Mayan Calendar, but it’s a hoax. It’s not always May.”
Grace shoved Zeus out of the way and pawed through the cups of congealed noodles and shreds of candy wrappers on the nightstand. Zeus scooted over to stay in her line of sight, his gaze unwavering, his pupils gigantic. “I’m all out of Adderall, Gracie.”
Grace cursed. “Seriously? It was supposed to last until Monday.” “Maybe you should ask that Mayan on the phone if they have more.”
She finally found her phone and cursed again when she saw the number on the screen. Lawrence Shaupin, the commissioning editor for High Note Magazine. She hit the answer button. “Hello?”
—
Zeus fiddled with something at the end of the guitar: he was plugging in a cord. Nicole jumped as a pop and squeal of feedback blasted from her speakers. Somehow, Zeus had found a way to patch the Gibson into the stereo system. He had a knack for figuring stuff like that out.
He started to play.
The mass exodus stopped, and people turned to watch. His fingers crawled across the fretboard, filling the room with noise. Somehow, with one instrument, he managed to make as much music as Beatbot had with all her samples and beats and gadgetry.
At first, it was beautiful noise chaos, but a rhythm grew out of it, and a melody, the song enveloping Grace and holding her transfixed. People started screaming again, but now they were cheering Zeus on. A lot of them resumed dancing. The pink-haired boy, who could only be Nicholson, the son of the owners of this place, was still staring up at Zeus, but the look of fury had been replaced by one of disbelief.
Zeus crafted an impossibly good song out of nothing as he swung back and forth on his knees, making the chandelier sway. His song’s hook was completely nonderivative, and perfect enough to make Grace’s scalp tingle. The chord progression was complex, so clever that it made Grace bust up in giggles, but he made it sound simple and natural. It wasn’t until Zeus caught her eye again and broke out in a wide grin that she realized she was smiling like a maniac.
He pursed his lips at her in an exaggerated rock-n-roll face and played the final chords, letting them squeal. As they died away, the crowd broke out in cheers, stomping for more.
About the Author
ELIZABETH RODERICK is the author of Love and Money, Hoodlum Army, and The Other Place Series, and Gracie & Zeus Live The Dream, as well as many short stories in various anthologies.
She and her daughter help run a small, diversified farm in Eastern Washington. She is a musician and songwriter, and has played in many bands—mostly guitar, bass and keyboards.
Elizabeth’s stories are about love, death, gang warfare, and madness, with characters of the type that society generally shuns: addicts, convicts, and the neurodivergent. She is a neurodivergent person and a disability rights activist.
Elizabeth believes if people get to know those who live on the fringes of society, both in stories and in real life, they’ll find them more likeable than they originally thought.
Mothers. Meddling. Matchmaking. What could possibly go wrong?
Matchmakers Maggie Barnes and Rina Thorn are back “helping” two new couples navigate the journey to find love.
It’s a simple marriage of convenience. She needs a temporary husband. He needs the money she’s offering.
Christy Roban walked away from her brief marriage with a battered heart and damaged pride. The entanglement-free life she’s built suits her just fine, until she finds herself in need of a temporary husband.
A committed relationship is the last thing Aaron Thorn is looking for, but Christy makes an offer he can’t refuse. Besides, he’s a sucker for a damsel in distress.
What happens when the lines blur and their simple fake marriage of convenience starts to feel like the real thing?
* * *
He starts their relationship with a lie. Now he has to tell her the truth.
Disillusioned by his broken engagement, Phil Wentworth wants a woman to love him for the person he is, not the riches he has. He wants a future with Marissa, but when she finds out he lied, will she forgive him?
Marissa Stone didn’t expect falling in love would be so complicated. They are from two different worlds. What if their sizzling chemistry fades? What if she’s only a rebound romance? Can she trust him again and find her happily ever after?
Buy Spring: Book Four of the Matchmaker Chronicles for another heartwarming romance duet, because who doesn’t love Margarita-sipping, meddling, matchmaking mommas.
Other Books in the Matchmaker Chronicles Duets series:
Janis McCurry was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, nestled in the beautiful Treasure Valley. She’s never wanted to live anywhere else. She loves to write believable characters with humor and tenderness. She writes romance because she believes in happy endings, whether with a first-time or a second-chance love.
Lynn Mapp was a Navy brat, born in San Diego, California. While she was born in California, her Idaho roots are deep. Her mother and grandfather were Idaho natives. She has always looked for happily ever afters, the light after the darkness. Families and humor are central in her life and her stories.
When a tyrant in stilettos replaces her beloved boss, and her ex snags her coveted job, teacher Dana Narvana discovers there are worse things than getting dumped on Facebook. Time for the BFF advice squad. Alex—hunky colleague, quipster, and cooking pal extraordinaire is Dana’s staunchest ally. So what’s with the smooching after hours? And why won’t this grown man make up his mind?
Actor turned teacher Alex Bethany craves a family of his own. Newly hotified, he’s now got the confidence to try online dating. Meanwhile he’s sending Dana mixed messages in the kissing department. After a surprising event rocks his world, Alex panics, certain he’s blown his chances with his special person.
Funny and bittersweet, Dana and Alex’s story will have you rooting for them all the way to dessert.
Excerpt
“So, this is what it’s like being on a date with you.” Dana hesitated—caught herself. “This isn’t a date, is it?
Her voice flattened and she took a sip of wine. “Oh, I’m not belittling your gesture, bringing me to this fine establishment. But it isn’t a date because you’re seeing that woman, aren’t you? The one you asked me for advice about.”
Alex fidgeted. Idiot. Asking Dana how to recognize the signs a woman was interested––what had he been thinking? What could be more awkward? This. This was definitely up there on the list of more awkward moments.
“You’ve always been straight with me,” she said, holding the wine glass in midair.
That little flash of skin whenever she raises her arm. He picked up his wine glass. At this rate, he’d have to order a second bottle, simply to block his mind from going where it shouldn’t.
“Alex, do it again, be straight.”
He leaned in, took the glass from her hand and put it on the table. “Come closer,” he said. “I want to whisper sweet somethings in your ear.”
She bent toward him, a puzzled but amused expression percolating, her face glowing in the subtle lighting.
“Yes?” Her voice throaty, challenging.
“This is a date,” he said and tilted his head, brushed her lips with his, pulled back slightly, and did it again.
About the Author
Shirley Goldberg is a writer, novelist, and former ESL and French teacher who’s lived in Paris, Crete, and Casablanca. She writes about men and women of a certain age starting over. Her website http://midagedating.com offers a humorous look at living single and dating in mid life. Eat Your Heart Out is the second book in the series Starting Over. Middle Ageish, the first, is available now and Shirley’s friends like to guess which stories in the book are true. Her characters believe you should never leave home without your sense of humor and Shirley agrees.
Warm your heart, put a smile on your face, and get ready for a bellyful of laughs with this collection of four original romantic comedies. Featuring laugh-out-loud tales by some of today’s most talented authors, ‘The Scent of a Man’ will pull you into the world of true love and the antics and misadventures that it takes to find it. Your cure for the doldrums and tribulations of the real world awaits in this shining collection of PG-13 short stories of lively, eclectic and humorous proportions. Remember, there is no greater scent than the scent of a man, so settle back, get comfortable, and take a nice, deep whiff of hilarity.
‘Love Cabin’ by Miriam Newman
He thinks she’s a snob. She thinks he hates women. It’s going to take a lot to work this out.
‘Exiled to Love’ by Jae El Foster
An exiled witch must learn to live without her powers, but will she risk losing everything to save a mortal’s life?
‘The Scent of a Man’ by Jennifer Patricia O’Keeffe
An injured woman must endure homecare with the aid of a handsome man that threatens to win her heart.
‘The Scent of You’ by Kristi Ahlers
A woman, terrified of flying, boards a plane at her brother’s beckoning. Can a first class surprise shake her from her nervous angst?
About the Authors
Miriam Newman
Fantasy poetry driven by myths and legends has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I was published in poetry before catching the romance writing bug. I bring that background to my writing along with a lifelong addiction to horses, an 18 year career in various areas of psychiatric social services and many trips to Ireland, where I nurture my muse. My published works range from contemporary fantasy romance to fantasy historical, futuristic, science fiction and historical romance. Currently I live in rural Pennsylvania with a “motley crew” of rescue animals. You can see my books at www.miriamnewman.com.
When the muses speak, Jae El Foster writes, and he has been doing so for nearly twenty years, tackling some of the most intriguing genres out there. Delivering fresh, incomparable tales of horror, science fiction, and romance – sweet or spicy – he pens with seasoned skill the tales that his muses deliver to him. His bestselling works include such titles as ‘Restless,’ ‘Beauty Within,’ ‘Where the Demon Is,’ and ‘Only at Christmas.’
Jennifer Patricia O’Keeffe is an author of romantic comedy and anything quirky. She resides in Tennessee, just outside of Nashville where she shares a home with her cats. Ms. O’Keeffe loves to make the world laugh and to find humor and love in the least likely of places. Readers may keep up with her and her writings by following @authorjpokeeffe on Twitter.
Kristi Ahlers is a California girl! She grew up in Northern California in a small city called Yuba City. Since then she’s lived in Brussels, Belgium, and England along with a myriad of other locations. A former flight attendant, she was able to continue to feed her love of travel. This has greatly influenced her writing, allowing her to pen stories about places she’s managed to visit and things she’s experienced.
Laurette is the luckiest Elf in all of New Elvenswood. His longtime friend the vampire Hugo and the human non-witch Charlie are both in love with Laurette, and he’s in love with them. Everything would be perfect if only those two would finally decide to move in with Laurette, quit their jobs, and spend all their time with him. And Laurette has plans to sway his lovers’ minds on Valentine’s Day.
Charlie finds herself tightly suspended between the attentions of one hot Elf and one hot vampire, and there is no place she would rather be. And then, a colleague decides he wants to claim Charlie, whether she’s in a relationship or not.
Enter Cupid, mistress of arrows and bringer of love, because loving the right person is especially important with spring warming hungry hearts… except not everyone agrees with the accuracy of Cupid’s aim.
Excerpt
Chapter One
The kitchen smelled wonderful, a cacophony of vanilla and cinnamon and chocolate. Yet Laurette had to admit that it looked more like an entrenched warzone with the large, centermost kitchen island being occupied by the freshly iced cakes on one side and by neat lines of cookies cooling on their racks on the other. What Laurette didn’t have to admit was that he was stress baking.
He turned his back on the kitchen island and faced the bain-marie in front of him where luscious chunks of chocolate were melting to velvety softness.
“Gertrude!” Laurette barked. “Bring some of the cakes into one of the sitting rooms. I need the space. And send Heinrich to go out and get more candy hearts.” Wait. I can make heart-shaped pralines. With a touch of insta-lust magic in the filling. “And marzipan! I am making pralines.”
“Milord, there are cakes in the sitting rooms already.” Gertrude had marched up to his elbow, her pointy hat just reaching up to the middle of Laurette’s upper arm. She was finally wearing the Valentine’s Day outfit Laurette had chosen for his pixie servants this year, a warm, raspberry pink with a tasteful line of darker hearts along the neck- and hemlines. They all looked wonderful in it.
“Well, I am not done baking yet, Gertrude. Find someplace to put the cakes.” And I need more berries. Well. I cannot head to Faerie to pick berries before I do a test batch of the pralines. Why do the high holidays have to be so stressful if all you want to do is charm your lovers? And why do my lovers have to be so difficult! “And send Kris out for more gold leaf. Tell them to get double what they did last time, and cane sugar as well.”
While having two lovers and caring for them certainly turned Laurette’s days — and his nights — less leisurely, he wouldn’t want to change any of that. Hugo was a prize he had sought for so long, but while it was just the two of them, the stubborn vampire humanist with the time consuming hobby of tending to people’s medical needs, had never crossed that borderline of friendship.
It had taken for Hugo to find Charlie and properly fall for the human non-witch born to a witch family to finally burn that border to ashes and make Laurette — Hugo’s closest Elven friend — into more than just a friend. And Charlie herself was dazzling in her own ways, her tastes contrasting Laurette’s, sometimes to his frustration when she wouldn’t let him tame her messy bun into something a little more sculpted, sometimes to his delight when she kissed Laurette as if she needed him like air or water.
Yet, she too was following her own hobbyist pursuits, heaping her attention on old manuscripts in the University Library’s archives. Laurette had never grown to like the building, and imagining Charlie there did strike an odd chord with his sensibilities. He would have much rather built her a nicer library to consume her days. Ideally, however, Laurette’s human lover would see the benefit in focusing on creating words and books to hold them rather than tending to the writings of others. I hope I can convince her of that, he thought.
Gertrude took three slow breaths, which pulled Laurette from his thoughts. “Would it be possible to send one or two of the cakes to the library? Perhaps milady would enjoy sharing them with her colleagues.”
Laurette stirred the chocolate. Ah, ready to pour over the pomegranate cookies like hot wax over a bare thigh. “That is actually not a bad idea. I need to write a card to go with the cake if we are sending it to Charlie at work.” If I get her to finally move in here, I need to make sure she gets regular flower deliveries to the office too so she doesn’t think me complacent. In fact, I should just switch to regular flower deliveries for her, period. “I should try making blood pralines to send Hugo, lest my silly vampire feels I single Charlie out with my doting.” I would send him flowers as well, but he’ll complain his delicate patients cannot tolerate the pollen or some silliness.
“You do dote on her a lot,” Gertrude pointed out.
Laurette turned to face the cookies with the melted chocolate, ready to do some drizzling. “Of course I do. The darling is human still, because Dr. Hugo has morals or some such thing. Get Dinner in here for some bloodletting and see if we have a suitable card while you prepare the cake for the library. The champagne and peach, I think.” The cookies looked appealing with the chocolate still warm and dripping off the edges. I’d like to have Charlie here to taste them so that I can taste the chocolate off her lips after. But this loneliness is what I get for picking lovers with hobbies. They called it work, of course, but that did little to change the facts. “We are packing some of these cookies as well, Gertrude.”
“Of course we are,” the pixie said. Then she finally went to find a suitable card and pass along his orders to the others. Dinner, the Fae who served as Hugo’s blood source while the vampire was spending more time at Laurette’s house, could be heard groaning when Gertrude informed him his blood was wanted in the kitchen. Dinner was not the most voluntary of blood sources.
It was a little over a week till Valentine’s Day, and Laurette was uncertain it was enough time to finish his preparations. After all, his ultimate goal was to sway at least one of his lovers to end their silly living arrangements and move into his house, and everything just had to be perfect for that.
Alexa Piper writes steamy romance that ranges from light to dark, from straight to queer. She’s also a coffee addict. She loves writing series, and her Fairview Chronicles follow a ragtag gang of supernaturals who try to make their city safer. Mostly. Her second series, Dusk & Dawn, explores banter and the trappings of a world in which Vampires, Werewolves, and the Fae live alongside humans. Elvenswood Tales is a new series that expands the Fairview universe.
