Contemporary Romance books

Chère Ruth,

Je ne suis pas d’humeur à fêter Noël. Après une relation amoureuse partie en fumée, je suis retourné dans ma ville natale du Kansas rural. Puis ma mère est décédée. Je suis très occupé par mon travail de capitaine des pompiers, et maintenant par la chronique de conseils de ma mère, que j’ai reprise à contrecœur. Il y a un nouveau venu sexy dans la rue, un homme avec une petite fille et un malheureux mépris pour la sécurité incendie. Il semble vouloir nouer une amitié, mais cela crée des problèmes qui pourraient être trop brûlants pour moi. Je n’ai vraiment pas besoin de décorations inflammables et de trop de nourriture de Noël en ce moment.

Comment suis-je censé prodiguer de bons conseils aux autres alors que je n’arrive pas à mettre de l’ordre dans ma propre vie ?

– Rabat-joie, Bailey Springs

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Inevitable Duets: Book Two

When dance instructor Jamie Griffin choreographs a contemporary ballet pas de deux to a love song by rock band Inevitable Thorns, he doesn’t expect the band’s keyboardist, Beau Davis, to witness it. He definitely doesn’t expect the steamy one-night stand that follows.

Beau leaves to continue touring, but he can’t get Jamie or his passion out of his head... especially once a video of the dance goes viral. This leads to a chance for the two of them to reconnect on tour, with Jamie performing his dance while the band plays live. The lines between a casual fling and a forever romance blur as rock music and ballet join to create magic onstage.

That magic suffuses their relationship too, but the price of fame is steep. When an explosive interview threatens the foundation of what they’re building together, will Beau and Jamie set the record straight and define their relationship—and their art—on their own terms? Or will the stars they’re reaching for elude their grasp?

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Verhelfen das Polarlicht und eine Liebe im zweiten Anlauf einem sich quälenden Künstler zu neuer Inspiration?

Als der New Yorker Maler Devon Starr seine Sucht aufgibt, verschwindet auch seine Inspiration. Devon braucht eine Veränderung und reist wegen des Schlaganfalls seines Vaters nach Hause, nach Alaska. Die kleine Stadt, in der er aufgewachsen ist, ist jedoch nicht mehr so wie in seiner Erinnerung.

Enrique Salazar kann sich noch ausgesprochen gut an Devon erinnern und macht es zu seiner persönlichen Mission, Devon die Augen für die wilde Schönheit und all die Möglichkeiten um sie herum zu öffnen. Die beiden Männer kommen sich näher, und gerade als Devon langsam begreift, was immer für ihn da war, sind sie gezwungen, sich gegen eine Bergbaugesellschaft zu wehren, die die unberührte Natur bedroht, dank derer sie sich verliebt haben. Der gemeinsame Kampf verstärkt ihre Bindung noch, doch als das Verlangen, wieder einen Pinsel in die Hand zu nehmen, zurückkommt, vernimmt Devon auch den Ruf der Stadt.

Ein Mann gefangen zwischen zwei Welten. Devon bleibt nur, seinem Herzen zu folgen.

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Bad to Be Good: Book Four

Former mobster Richard Marsden grew up scrounging on the streets of Detroit. This Christmas, for the first time, he has a family and the means to provide an abundant Christmas, and that’s what he intends to do.

But his husband, Daniel, grew up with everything. For Daniel, Christmas isn’t about receiving gifts, but the opportunity to help others. With his son in the hospital recovering from a tonsillectomy, Daniel knows just who he wants to help this year.

Both Daniel and Richard make plans for their family Christmas assuming the other is on board, leaving their holiday dangling on the precipice of disaster—unless they can remember that family, love, and the holidays mean compromising to give each other what they need. 

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Welcome to the Cardinal Christmas Market, an exclusive holiday experience where the offerings are as unique and quirky as the people and town who run it. 

Douglas is a first-time vendor, and he's determined to make a splash and grow from there. A mix-up means he has no choice but to share a booth with Boyd, one of Cardinal's own.

Douglas and Boyd don’t like each other’s style... or one another. But in the ensuing weeks working the booth, with help from a little Cardinal Christmas Market magic, they find their art, world views, personalities, and passions are complementary—even compatible. Can they get past feeling like the coal in each other's stockings to a sweet happy ending, or are they destined to be holiday humbugs?

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Cassidy Hancock hates being late—he’s pathological about it. Until the crisp fall morning when he pauses to watch his neighbor’s handsome son chase his dog down the sidewalk… and gets hit by a tree.

Mark Taylor sees the whole thing, and as a second-year medical resident, he gets Cassidy top-notch care. In spite of himself, he’s fascinated by his mother’s stodgy neighbor, and as he strives to help Cassidy recover from a broken leg, he begins to realize that behind Cassidy’s obsession with punctuality is the story of a lonely boy who thought he had to be perfect to be loved.

Mark and his family are far from perfect—but they might be perfect for Cassidy. As the two of them get to know each other, Cassidy fantasizes about the family and happy-ever-after he never thought he’d have, and Mark starts to yearn for Cassidy’s wide-eyed kindness and surprising creativity. But first they have to overcome Cassidy’s fears, because there is so much more fun to be had during Christmas than just being on time.

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Sequel to Bad to Be Worthy
Bad to Be Good: Book Three

For glass artist Ashton Weller, Longboat Key seems like the perfect place to start over. It’s warm, sunny, and far from the dangerous ex he left behind in Chicago, even if his glass studio does get even more uncomfortable in the Florida heat. It’s also home to Terrance Manetti, a man who turns into Ashton’s inadvertent hero when he saves him from some unsavory types at a local restaurant… and may turn into more than that.

Former mobster Terrance has been in Witness Protection with his "brothers" ever since they turned state’s evidence against their former employer. His brothers have a different life here, filled with family and small-time, honest jobs, and Terrance doesn’t know whether to be jealous or derisive.

Not until he meets Ashton, anyway. With Ashton, Terrance could build the kind of life he’s never dared to want—the kind of life where he won’t need the skills he learned in organized crime. Or so he thinks—until Ashton’s past comes looking for him….

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It’s never too late to try something new.

After a year of mourning, it’s time for Nolan Hamlin to live again. But finding a new place in the world doesn’t happen easily.

Already famous as a designer, Nolan is a shoo-in for a new Restoration Channel show host. The brief is simple—help people who’ve gotten in over their heads with their fixer-uppers—but the costar situation is anything but.

For up-and-coming interior decorator Grayson Woods, working with a veteran like Nolan is a dream come true. For one, he’s young and this could make his career. For two, he’s had a crush on Nolan forever. But while Grayson has plenty of life experience, his résumé doesn’t hold up to Nolan’s. He hopes he can keep up.

Despite clashing design aesthetics and a fifteen-year age difference, Grayson manages to charm Nolan. With the show keeping them in close proximity, it’s only a matter of time before they give in to their growing attraction. It isn’t the life Nolan thought he wanted—but when that life comes calling, he has to make a choice. Is there room in his future and his home for a guy like Grayson?

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When Jeff Pine rents a cabin in the hometown he’s been avoiding for fifteen years, he just wants some time away from his rock 'n roll world to figure out his life. Instead he runs into his former BFF—and the inspiration for dozens of love songs—on the first day.

Facepalm.

Park naturalist Carter Rhodes is a cinnamon roll dressed like a lumberjack. Fame and fortune don’t turn his head, but the snarky little nerd who followed him around as a kid? The guy who makes him laugh when he’s grieving and relax when he overextends himself? Not the rock star, but Jeff? That guy has a chance.

Jeff has always known Carter is it for him, but he’s facing a tour with increasingly hostile bandmates, a looming album deadline, and the suspicion that their label is up to no good. Can he find the courage—and the time—to write a true love song with Carter?

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Apart from his drug addiction, his homophobic father, and his denial of his sexuality, Ben O’Connor lives a charmed life. He has a wonderful son, a lucrative job as a Realtor, and a supportive mother and siblings. Then his boss promotes someone else over him and his life disintegrates. In his anger, he breaks the eleventh commandment—thou shalt not get caught.

Kicking his ice habit while incarcerated, Ben realizes he has lost his ability to enjoy life. But he gets another chance at Thailand’s Resort Jomtien, where he takes part in an experimental program aimed at preventing relapses among recovering addicts. There he meets Matt Wilson, a gay man from Sydney who’s facing the same struggle. Ben and Matt form a strong bond as they rediscover joy and learn strategies to cope with the lure of their addictions.

Ben invites the adrift Matt home with him after treatment and finds he fits perfectly into Ben’s family. But will Ben recognize that his feelings for Matt go beyond the platonic before Matt’s doubts—and a worldwide pandemic—separate them forever?

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