Life is crazy busy these days and it’s easy to get caught up
in the day to day juggle of all our responsibilities. Often we don’t have the luxury
of an hour, or sometimes day, long reading binge. Then right when you’re at the
best moment in the book, Especially when your brain is obsessing over what
happened to the character in the book you were just reading.
Short stories are the perfect solution for those nights when
you think “I’m going to start this book but just another chapter or two” and
then it’s 2am and you have to get up in four hours knowing you’re going to
get exhausted at work the next day.
It’s the instant gratification of being able to enjoy a
story in the tub and be relaxed when you get out safe and secure in the
knowledge that the characters are living their happily ever after.
My newest release is tomorrow and I loved the theme of the short stories included in this anthology. Mature couples! Writing about a heroine I can personally relate to made this even more enjoyable. While you don't have to be in your 40's to enjoy these stories, they are a celebration of love at every point in our lives.
Release Date June 27th!!
From 12 NYT and USA Today bestselling authors, these tales of seduction will leave you panting for more...
Featuring stories from: Adaline Raine, Elizabeth Kirke, Ever Coming, Kate Richards, Katherine Deane, Kayleigh Malcolm, Krista Ames, Michele Ryan, Monica Corwin, Nicole Morgan, Tina Donahue, and TL Reeve
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MEANT TO BE – Kayleigh Malcolm
Cassandra Jakes’ career gave her more satisfaction
than her ex ever did. Making time for relationships was pointless, because at
her age, Mr Second Chance wouldn’t be an easy find. She’d kept her inner bad
girl locked in a cage for so long, there was no easy way to change that now.
Remy Moraes had a two week maximum on any
relationship and enjoyed the fact that no one expected a commitment from him.
Cassandra was the only woman who could have tempted him to stray from his
eternal bachelordom, but she was too far out of his league.
When Remy interrupts Cassandra’s solo camping trip,
the two of them fall into an erotic weekend of unbridled passion. Returning to
the world of indoor plumbing, they both have a lot of baggage to unpack. Can
they work out their differences and accept they were meant to be?
Excerpt:
Forest
air tasted different, Cassandra inhaled deeply and smiled. It smelled better up
here too. No car exhaust, city structures, rush hour, or gridlock. A 20 minute
hike into the woods to her site had her almost light headed though. Especially
since she did it twice in order to get most of her gear up to her site, the
rest she left in the car. After only a couple of nasty swear words her tent was
up and food stored away in the bear boxes, the last thing she wanted to do was
to have any big fuzzies show up for a visit.
Why didn’t she ever think of this sooner? The sun was
setting over the mountains painting the sky in shades of purple and red. A
perfect end to a beautiful day after spending the afternoon wandering along the
marked trails, and enjoyed the simple beauty around her.
The
only smudge to the picture perfect sunset was a large black cloud formation in
the sky adjacent to the vibrant shades. The weatherman hadn’t said anything
about bad weather yesterday and she hadn’t double checked this morning. A little rain never hurt anyone.
With
a small fire going in the safety pit, she relaxed in her chair and read. Around
her the forest was alive with sounds of little critters and hooting owls. There
were already a couple chipmunks she’d bribed a return by tossing a handful of
peanuts on the table for them. She
reached for her cell to call Jenny only to find it wasn’t in her pocket. Damn, she vaguely remembered tossing it
on the passenger seat. That hike could wait till morning.
A bottle of Alsatian Gewürztraminer sat on the cooler, a
partially filled glass next to it. She held her hotdog over the crackling
flame, toasting it perfectly on all sides, a bun in her lap already with
horseradish mayo on it. This was the life, no worrying about what her breath
would smell like, or if she made a mess. It was going to be a perfect weekend.
A flash lit up the sky above her,
followed moments later by a deep roar of thunder. She loved thunderstorms and
her earlier thought of crawling into her tent with some of her toys crossed her
mind again. She wished she was brave enough to go at right here and now, there
was the slim possibility that someone might stumble across her. Exhibitionism
was not her thing, neither was voyeurism. Both embarrassed her and that had
been one of the nails in the coffin her marriage had been buried in. Karl was
willing to do anything anywhere. Getting caught by a stranger while playing
with herself was an intriguing fantasy but not one she wanted to experience. Unless it was Rémy….no! Not Rémy. She
could feel her cheeks burning and was certain the heat from the fire didn’t have
anything to do with it. Rémy Moraes was a fantasy all on his own and one that
would have to stay that way.
****
Rémy was going to throttle Jenny
Jakes and her mother Cassandra. The
former because the silly twit had run off and gotten herself married in Vegas
of all places. No doubt she had some Elvis impersonator do it too. His
daughter, Tiffany had filled him in on a few details. Flighty and irresponsible. Apparently Jenny’s boyfriend/now husband
had his feet a bit more on the ground, but then after this latest stunt he was
going to have to question that previous impression. If this was a grand gesture
to win Jenny’s affections back, the man was an idiot.
Anyone could have seen that Jenny
had been pining for him. Moping around, bursting into tears at the slightest
mention of him. As much as he loved Jenny, and considered her like another
daughter, whenever she came by to cry on Tiffany’s shoulder, he’d beat a quick
escape from the house.
Contrary to his long time
impression, apparently Cassandra was as flighty as her daughter. Taking off on
a solo camping trip? What was she
thinking? She wouldn’t know the difference between a hatchet and a hammer. No
doubt almost chopped all her toes off by now trying to break a stump into
kindling while wearing a pair of dainty strappy sandals on her delicate feet. That
thought distracted him enough that he almost drifted into a tree. Damn, she had sexy calves too, terrible
thing if she cut herself. Shit! He
snapped his attention back to the road steering his truck off the gravel
shoulder. His wipers barely keeping up with the onslaught of rain pounding
against his windshield.
Goddamn, that woman always had that
effect on him. Ever since highschool, when she’d been far too good of a girl
for him to ever consider speaking to. She’d hugged the walls when she walked,
her head in a book. A riot of black curls surrounded her pale skin, she’d never
strayed far from her pack of silly twittering girlfriends. Even at that age
he’d know she’d doing more with her life that he ever would. She had a
seriousness about her and a drive to succeed he later found out was from her
parents high expectations. She'd done well for herself and matured into an incredible woman.
It wasn’t that she was a snob or
anything. Cassandra Banks was a delicate hot house flower and he spent his days
as a National Park Ranger. He loved his job, loved being outdoors and to get
involved with someone more comfortable in a boardroom then in a forest wouldn’t
be fair to either of them. But, here he was driving out into the middle of
nowhere at ten at night to find a woman because she’s failed to ensure her
phone had a signal. He’d do the same thing for anyone else who’d called him
concerned about a family member. She’s
not going to drown or get struck by lightning, be attacked by bears, starve, or
die of exposure.
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