Showing results by author "Melanie Harlow" in All Categories

I was expecting a proposal on my birthday, and I got dumped instead. How could I have been so clueless? Grams knew exactly how to distract me. The “cute boy next door” who’s been helping her with yard work clearly needs a little therapy. Who better to call than her newly single therapist granddaughter? She even fakes dementia to get me to visit, and now that I’m here she’s doing everything in her power to throw us together. Not that I’m complaining. Ryan is the sexiest man I’ve ever met.

He was my first crush, my first kiss, my first everything. So when he shows up out of the blue asking me to have dinner with him "for old time's sake", I say I will. After all, it's been 12 years since he broke my heart, and I'm totally over him, no matter what my sisters say. Except, he still does something to me. He's got those eyes that make me weak, those hands that drive me wild, and a body I can't resist - especially once I see the tattoos. It doesn't take long for our trip down memory lane to go from sweet to sizzling.

It was like seeing a ghost. When my late husband’s twin brother moves back to our small town, I want to avoid him. Everything about Wes reminds me of the man I lost and the life we’d planned together, and after 18 long months struggling just to get out of bed, I’m finally doing okay. I have a new job, an amazing support group, and a beautiful five-year-old daughter to parent. I don’t want to go backward. But I’m drawn to him, too. He understands my grief and anger and guilt like no one else - and I understand his. Before long, that understanding becomes desire, and that desire becomes uncontrollable.

OK, fine. I’ll confess. While my house was being robbed, I was in the shower indulging my favorite Brad Pitt fantasy (the one with the Troy costume and the handcuffs). But where is the justice in the world when the first cop on the scene is the former bully next door? How dare that arrogant jerk grow up to be six-foot-three inches of solid muscle with gorgeous blue eyes! I can’t stop thinking about him. Or his handcuffs. Or his dirty mouth. Or the way he still likes to boss me around these days, only with a lot less clothing.

Rule number one for a professional matchmaker? Don’t fall in love with your client. I screwed that up when I fell for my best friend, Reid Fortino. He’s gorgeous, successful, and sexy as hell. I figured it would be easy to find him a match - and save the family business at the same time. But the more time I spend attempting to find the perfect girl, the more I realize how much I want him for my own.

I almost didn't believe it was him. In high school, Sebastian Pryce had been an aloof outsider who kept to himself. But now, 10 years later, he's back and unusually attractive. With muscles in all the right places and hands that know exactly what they're doing, Sebastian is everything I didn't know I needed. And while he isn't exactly friendly, he has a magnetism that draws me in.

You might think I had it all - a career I loved, a supportive family, the Nixon metabolism but not the Nixon ears, and a salary that supported my lavish taste in designer shoes, fine wine, and lacy lingerie - but I had no one to share it with. Until the day I ran into him - my one-night stand from college with the crooked smile, let's-get-out-of-here eyes, and dirty, dirty mouth. Cute and cocky then, today Levi Brooks is six feet four inches of hot bearded fantasy.

I have trouble saying no. To shoes, handbags, the dessert tray…you name it. But when I agreed to a plan last-minute engagement bash for a spoiled Mafia princess, I had no idea she’d demand that my sexy ex cater it. He’ll agree to work for me, but only if I agree to spend a weekend with him. Did I mention my weakness for a**holes with tattoos? I’m totally forked.

He's back. Not just back in town, but living in the flat right beneath mine. And he looks good enough to eat, which is just one more reason to stay away from him. But I can't resist. The sex is incredible (pretty sure we've shaken the house right off its foundation), but he can't fool me - not this time. A degree in marketing and five years in advertising have taught me that "true love" is a fairy tale used to sell lipstick, diamonds, and perfume. It doesn't exist. He thinks I'm wrong, and he wants to prove it. I think he's crazy, so I dare him to try.

When I got jilted by my unfaithful fiancé a week before the wedding, my plans involved nothing more than ice cream, a blanket fort, and a bonfire of his possessions. But my friends convince me that bitter tastes better when it’s drowned in Bordeaux, so I embark on the Parisian honeymoon by myself. However, the City of Light isn’t remotely charming or romantic when you’re alone at a table for two, so all I want to do is go home again. Then I meet Lucas Fournier.

When we were 11, Oliver Ford Pemberton dared me to jump off a barn roof. He said you couldn’t break a leg from a 12-foot jump. He lied. (You can also break a collarbone, which served him right as far as I was concerned.) I wish I could say it was the last dare I ever took from him, the last bet I ever made with him, the last time I ever trusted Oliver Ford Pemberton. But it wasn’t. Because he had the nerve to grow up gorgeous, charming, and sexy. And as we got older, the dares only got dirtier - and the betting stakes higher - until finally, he left me in pieces.

I’m a full-time single dad to three daughters and CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. I don’t have time to fall in love - I’m too busy trying to run a business, keep the red socks out of the white laundry, and get the damn pillowcases on without owing a dollar to the swear jar. Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s 27, the boss’ daughter, and my new part-time nanny - which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her. What kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her?

Back then, I had it all. After tanking my career - during the World Series, no less - the last thing I want to do is return to my hometown, where every jerk in a ball cap has an opinion about what went wrong with my arm. Then I run into April Sawyer. I can still make her laugh, she can still take me down a notch, and when the chemistry between us explodes, it’s even hotter this time around - and I don’t want it to end. But just when I think I’m ready to let go of the past and get back in the game, life throws me a curveball I never saw coming.

Ian Chase broke my heart at 17, and I’ve spent the last 18 years hating him for it. He makes it easy, with his smart mouth and playboy lifestyle - which I unfortunately have to observe since he lives behind me. Every time I see him climbing out of his pool, practically naked and unreasonably sexy, my blood boils. I’ve always loved to loathe him. I never planned to need him.

Jack Valentini isn't my type. Sexy, brooding cowboys are fine in the movies, but in real life, I prefer a suit and tie. Proper manners. A close shave. Jack might be gorgeous, but he's also scruffy, rugged, and rude. He wants nothing to do with a "rich city girl" like me, and he isn't afraid to say so. But I've got a PR job to do for his family's farm, so he's stuck with me and I'm stuck with him. His glares. His moods. His tight jeans. His muscles. His huge, hard muscles.

Nate Pearson is ridiculously handsome and wears the hell out of a suit and tie, but I’ve seen the parade of beautiful women leaving his apartment across the hall - a different one every time - and I want no part of it. When it comes to romance, I’m looking for something real, something that will last: the happily ever after. As a divorce attorney, he loves to tell me there’s no such thing. As a wedding planner, I choose to disagree.

I didn’t mean to see him naked - it was an accident. It had to be, right? Because Noah McCormick and I have never been anything more than friends. Until I walked in on him getting out of the shower and saw his hard, muscular body totally bare and dripping wet. At that moment I never wanted to mess with anything so badly in my entire life. He’s made it clear he’s not interested in romance. Which is fine with me because I’ve got a plane ticket back to my real life at the end of the week. It’s all in fun...or is it?

In hindsight, I should not have had that fifth mimosa at Breakfast with Santa. Or the sixth, seventh, and eighth. Even if the mic-drop moment that resulted was worth the looks on my former friends’ faces. For the sake of my children and my pride, I pack up and head for my childhood home and the small town where I grew up. Cloverleigh Farms would be the perfect place for a fresh start. Falling for Henry DeSantis wasn’t part of the plan.

Dex, Winnies neuer Nachbar, ist Feuerwehrmann, umwerfend attraktiv und alleinerziehender Vater. Obwohl sie sich, als hoffnungslose Romantikerin mit mehrfach gebrochenem Herzen, geschworen hat, sich vorerst nicht mehr zu verlieben, zieht sein mürrischer Charme sie magisch an. Und ein spontaner Kuss verändert alles. Doch während die Funken sprühen, kämpft Dex mit seinen Zweifeln. Hat ihre Liebe eine Chance, trotz des großen Altersunterschieds und trotz der Tatsache, dass Winnie vielleicht gar nicht in seiner Nähe bleiben wird.

Avec le recul, j’aurais peut-être dû m’arrêter au quatrième mimosa lors du déjeuner avec le Père Noël. Bon… peut-être aussi au cinquième… ouais même au huitième ça aurait été bien. Mais est-ce que le regard choqué de mes anciennes amies valait ce moment iconique où j’ai lâché le micro ? Absolument. Pour sauver ce qui reste de ma fierté–et offrir à mes enfants un nouveau départ–je retourne là où tout a commencé : ma ville natale, Cloverleigh Farms. L’endroit idéal pour remettre les compteurs à zéro.