Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (2 page)

LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND HAPPILY EVER AFTERS COLLECTION

Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors

by

Violet Duke

Marquita Valentine

Melody Grace

Marilyn Brant

Melanie Shawn

Beth Michele

Jessie Evans

Erin Nicholas

Smashwords Edition

COPYRIGHT © 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, this eight-novel collection and any portion thereof may not be reproduced, scanned, transferred, or distributed in any print or electronic form without the express written permission of the individual book authors. Participation in any aspect of piracy of copyrighted materials, inclusive of the obtainment of this book through non-retail or other unauthorized means, is in actionable violation of the authors’ rights.

The books in this eight-novel collection are individually and separately copyrighted. All copyright issues and/or permission requests should be directed to the author of the individual title in question. © 2013 Violet Duke – Finding the Right Girl, © 2013 Marquita Valentine – Not Over You, © 2013 Melody Grace -- Unafraid, © 2011 Marilyn Brant – On Any Given Sundae, © 2014 Melanie Shawn – Tempting Love, © 2013 Beth Michele – Love Love, © 2013 Jessie Evans – Sweet To You, and © 2014 Erin Nicholas – Getting Out of Hand.

ISBN-13:
978-1-941198-95-7

BOXED SET DESCRIPTION

An all-star collaboration by eight of today's most popular bestselling authors. From the funny & sweet to the steamy & heartfelt, this limited edition collection has EIGHT full-length FUN, romantic love stories hand-picked to bring a smile to your face this summer.

ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE 
by USA Today Bestselling Author Marilyn Brant
 -- 
A shy dessert cookbook writer reconnects with her longtime crush--an ex-football star turned businessman--when they run an ice cream shop together.

FINDING THE RIGHT GIRL 
by NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Violet Duke
 -- 
Tessa Daniels has no idea 
why
 she told her friend's brother she was some sort of fling expert. She's never been flung before and she sure as heck doesn't know where or how to begin flinging a guy like Brian Sullivan. The man's got the body of a football god straight off a billboard, as many skeletons in the closet as she does, and worst of all, he's got her thinking of the one thing she stopped letting herself hope for years ago. A happily-ever-after.

SWEET TO YOU 
by iTunes & Barnes and Noble Bestselling Author Jessie Evans 
-- 
Where there's smoke, there's fire... When s'mores and whiskey shots lead to skinny-dipping at a singles' camping retreat, Maddie Whitehouse knows she won't be able to resist another steamy encounter with the sexy firefighter her childhood friend, Jamison, has become...even if he is off limits.

UNAFRAID 
by USA Today Bestselling Author Melody Grace
 -- 
Brittany Ray's learned the hard way that some dreams aren't meant for girls like her. Handsome, charming Hunter Covington is one of those dreams. Years ago, they shared one life-changing night together, but Brit walked away before he could break her heart. Now Hunter's back in Beachwood Bay, their reckless passion can't be ignored. But will dark secrets tear apart their new beginning?

LOVE LOVE 
by Amazon Bestselling Author Beth Michele
 -- 
Gabrielle Willis is smart. She's funny. And oh yes, she's a bit klutzy.  But she's also running.  When she meets Brad Dixon, the sweet guy with the crooked smile, can he make her see that the very thing she is trying to run from is the very thing that just may push her to see the light?

GETTING OUT OF HAND
by Samhain Bestselling Author Erin Nicholas
 -- 
Genius scientist Mason Riley can cure world hunger, impress the media and piss off the Vice President of the United States all before breakfast. But he's not sure he can get through his high school class reunion.  Then he meets the new girl in town.  Adrianne Scott loves the sleepy little town of Sapphire Falls--the perfect place to open her candy shop and live a quiet, drama-free life. Until Mason Riley bids four hundred dollars just to dance with her.

TEMPTING LOVE 
by Amazon Bestselling Author Melanie Shawn
 
-- Haley Sloan knows exactly what she wants out of life. With her designer lingerie business booming, her career is moving forward, but her heart is still in the same place it had been for four long years...hopelessly in love with the former wild boy turned responsible adoring father, Eddie Thomas. Will this self-sacrificing single father finally realize that accepting his love for Haley may be just what his little girl needs to get the family they both deserve?

NOT OVER YOU 
by NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Marquita Valentine
 -- 
Summer Holland is set on one thing--convincing her childhood sweetheart *and* local preacher's son, Gabriel Edwards, to marry her so she can get back the daughter she gave up for adoption. She's always been able to count on him rescuing her when she needed it most, but this time is different... there's a new woman in Gabriel's life. Only, Summer's not going to let that get in her way.

ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE

By

Marilyn Brant

© 2011 by Marilyn B. Weigel. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book, excepting brief quotations used in reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, businesses or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Twelfth Night Publishing

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Elizabeth and Rob's uncles temporarily relinquish the reins of their ice cream shop to their respective niece and nephew -- two people who may have grown up practically next door to each other but who have next to nothing in common...

Elizabeth Daniels is a small-town girl at heart. Shy and inexperienced at love, the frizzy-haired dessert cookbook writer still resides in her quaint hometown, stutters painfully when nervous, and is only comfortable with her tiny circle of cooking pals. She must come out of hiding to help her uncle, but she's racing against a writing deadline and convinced her childhood crush, Rob, barely knows she exists.

Rob Gabinarri is a former football star who left home after high school, made a splash in the big city, and never looked back. He comes home to help, but he's counting the minutes until he can return to his commitment-free life. Despite his chattiness and charm, he was always intimidated by quiet, brainy girls like "Frizzy Lizzy" and isn't pleased to be back where people still see him as that popular but dumb jock -- an image he worked for almost a decade to shed. And then there's his dear Italian mother, who's bent on lining up potential hometown brides for him...

Rob has an idea that just might help them both, but it involves a bit of family deception. Neither of them are used to playing games of pretense, but can love, hot summer nights and, maybe, some chocolate sauce and whipped cream...turn their farce into reality?

CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS LONG, Elizabeth Daniels noted. Without a doubt, Jacques’s was several inches longer than most.

She leaned in, scanned it and ran her index finger along its prodigious length. She heard Jacques’s quick intake of breath.

Silken to the touch, yet deliciously firm. Broad. Sleek. Inviting. She nodded her approval, swallowed and brought her lips to its soft-brown side. A thick, creamy droplet poised on the tip. She moaned, anticipating the coming moments. Her tongue snaked out to lick the end clean.

“Mmmm,” she murmured.

“C’mon. Go for it,” Jacques urged, tension filling his voice. “Pleeeeease. You’re killing me.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“Elizabeth, I’m pleading with you.”

“Oh, all right.” She licked the tip again, inhaled deeply and took a big bite.

Jacques exploded next to her. “Well?”

“Incredible,” she declared. “This is the single best éclair I’ve had in months.” She glanced at Jacques’s expression. “Years,” she amended.

“And?”

“And you’re absolutely right. This new recipe is even better than your last batch. It has to be featured in the book. In fact, I’m giving you the cover spread for the pastries chapter.”

“Yes! Yes!” The portly, thirty-six-year-old French chef did a little jig in the front aisle of Tutti-Frutti, the ice cream parlor and confectionery shop where she and Jacques worked part time. Elizabeth’s uncle and his business partner owned the place, and they’d turned it into “The Coolest Hotspot” in Wilmington Bay, Wisconsin.

Elizabeth grinned at her good friend’s jubilance. Jacques’s enthusiasm was one of the many things she adored about him. Another thing was that, despite the remnants of Jacques’s French accent, they spoke the same language—a vernacular inhabited by fillo dough, shaved almond bark and imported spices. As one of the few people she could be herself around, the Frenchman was worth his weight in dutched cocoa.

Jacques pranced around a little more, his receding hairline becoming more prominent when he jumped. “I knew you’d love it,
chéri
,” he said. “Didn’t I tell you you’d love it?”

“You told me.”

Elizabeth wiped the chocolate frosting and custard splotches off her chin before scribbling a few cursory comments in her notebook. She hadn’t exaggerated in her assessment. Every one of Jacques’s creations was bigger and better than the competition. She needed her first solo dessert cookbook—
Perfect Pastries, Pralines and Parfaits
—to do the same.

He gave her a saucy wink. “You know, I think you need to take my marriage proposal more seriously,
ma petite brioche
. Just imagine the two of us together. We could bring tasty comfort to millions of people daily. Sweet-toothed folks the world over,” he raised his voice and waved his oven mitt in the air with fervor, “will flock to Wilmington Bay to see where this wonder all began.” He beamed at her. “Jacques and Elizabeth—Saviors of the Dessert Deprived.”

“Please tell me that’s not going to be our slogan.”

He shrugged. “I will leave the naming up to you, but I’ll be hurt if you don’t think it through just a bit. Our possible engagement, I mean.” He couldn’t disguise the mischievous glint in his eye. “Friendship is the key to long-lasting love. I’d be honored to marry such a good friend as you, Elizabeth.” His voice dropped. “If you’ll have me.”

She walked to where he stood behind the counter and threw her arms around him. “You are an amazing man…and yet, totally, unbelievably insincere on this subject.” She punched him on the shoulder. “But thanks for trying to cheer me up. I may have given up looking for love, but one of these days you’ll find someone worthy of you.”

“Nonsense. You’re just saying ‘no’ now because you want the empire all to yourself, you greedy girl!” He dipped her backward, as if in a finale to a dance routine, and planted a brotherly kiss on her forehead. “In another year or two you’ll be ready for me.”

She laughed and they stepped apart. Their conversations were peppered with moments like this: Jacques tossing a half-hearted proposal her way and her waving him off until next time. There was truly
no
romantic chemistry between them, but loneliness made people play these kinds of games. They’d spent hours recounting their relationship woes, alongside their other close friends, Nick and Gretchen. All of them had known too many years of heartbreak.

“So, it’s a bright and lovely Sunday morning. What else is on your agenda today?” he said as he walked over to the oven and pulled out a steaming batch of fresh cranberry croissants. Elizabeth could feel the butter clogging her arteries from across the room.

“I’ve got some rewrites to do on the pecan-praline cookies,” she told him. “I had Nick try out the lead recipe, and he said the tops burned if we left them in at three hundred seventy-five degrees for the whole twelve minutes. They’re only supposed to be ‘golden brown.’”