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.
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.
Ambitious organizer Minn Evans resents being the only sane and stable person in her family. She wants a normal life with schedules and balanced meals and maybe a man who won’t fall for her sister.
Ford Hayes, a whiz at creativity and a dud at organization, becomes Art Director for a privately-owned TV station. But his office is a mess, his planning skills are a train wreck, and he can’t find his socks.
Minn needs a job; Ford needs an organizer. But Minn’s vagabond parents and man-stupifying sister aren’t the only roadblocks on their journey to love.
Excerpt
The building that might hold her future towered over her, glowing with promise. She put her hand on the brass plate, mentally crossed her fingers, and pushed. Uh-oh. She sprinted for the closing elevator door and risked a glance at her watch. Time for a stop in a bathroom, time to practice the carefully prepared answers to standard questions, time to chew a breath mint.
Her heel caught in the gap between floor and elevator cabin, catapulting her into a passenger. Arms that had been full of files now held only her. His files were on the floor, and her breast was in his hand. Heat prickled up her neck and into her cheeks. “I…uh…it was…oh, my…”
He stared at his hand—no, at her breast!
“Hey!”
Minn lurched back and groaned, reaching for her broken heel. Her stomach fed-exed bile to her chest. This couldn’t be worse.
A thoaty “Oh, crap!” drew her attention to a patchwork of paper and now-empty file folders across the floor.
“I-I’m so very sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.” They both bent, heads collided, her feet slipped on the loose paper. Down she went.
Okay. It could be worse.
About The Author
Jeanne Kern is a retired high school teacher who found her HEA when she met her husband on the internet. Together they love traveling and animal encounters: petting whales in Baja California, feeding rhino in Indonesia, walking with lions in Zimbabwe. Rich runs an award-winning volleyball website and Jeanne enjoys acting on stage and in indie horror films.
Guess the release date of Shirley’s new rom com, Eat Your Heart Out, about two foodie friends.
Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an e-copy of Eat Your Heart Out.
Everyone who correctly guesses the date will get one entry into the draw.
Bonus entries (following Shirley on various socials) will up your chances to win.
This book is so brand new it doesn’t even have a cover yet!
Enter now, promo ends January 13th
Book Blurb
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, starting with Dana’s staunchest ally, Alex—hunky colleague, quipster, and cooking pal extraordinaire. But when the after-hours smooching goes nowhere, she wonders why this grown man won’t make up his mind.
Alex Bethany’s new lifestyle gives him the confidence to try online dating. What he craves is a family of his own until a life-altering surprise rocks his world. Knowing he’s sending Dana mixed messages, Alex panics when he thinks he’s blown his chance with his special person. From appetizers to the main course will these two cooking buddies make it to dessert?
Excerpt
“So this is what it’s like being on a date with you,” she said. “Oh.” Hesitating, as if she’d caught herself. “This isn’t a date, is it? Oh, I’m not belittling your gesture, bringing me to this fine establishment. But it isn’t a date because you’re still seeing that woman, the one you asked me about. You remember, don’t you? During our planning session.”
A ping of discomfort as he recalled asking Dana how to recognize the signs that a woman was interested. What could be more awkward? This. This was definitely up there on the list of more awkward moments.
“Honestly, I didn’t think too much—I mean we’re friends and colleagues.” He picked up his wine glass. At this rate, he’d have to order a second bottle simply to block his mind from where it persisted in going, Dana-wise. That little flash of skin, her show of bravery on the supervisor-from-hell front, even her feistiness toward him. Well, she had a point about the date.
“You’ve always been straight with me,” she said. “Do it again, be straight.”
Alex leaned in, took the piece of bread from her hand and placed it on the plate, then pushed the plate out of the way. “Come closer,” he said. “I want to whisper sweet somethings in your ear.”
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, and her friends like to guess which stories are true. Eat Your Heart Out is the second book in the series Starting Over. Middle Ageish, the first, is available now. Her characters believe you should never leave home without your sense of humor and Shirley agrees.
