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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: J. Kenner’s Charmed By You, a Stark Security novella ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, romantic suspense, alpha hero, bodyguard, instalove

J. Kenner’s Charmed By You returns us easily to Damien Stark’s Security series world. With cameos from Damien and Ryan, Charmed By Love marries the world of Hollywood with the world of the Stark Security series. As it follows Simon Barré protecting the starlet, Francesca Muratti, from a stalker, the sparks fly from their initial meeting. This chemistry makes the story intriguing: “will they/won’t they consummate their attraction.”  Once the suspense portion of the story hits, it’s a quick downhill from there, devolving into a happy ending for Frannie and Simon.

Charmed By You has all the components of the other Stark Security series novellas: intrigue, insta-attraction, and the chemistry of opposites. I will say that I was hoping for a bit more story development, but alas, this is a novella. If you’re looking for a quick read in the world of Damien Stark, then you won’t want to miss Charmed By You.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Devney Perry’s Garnet Flats, the next The Edens story ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

It is simple for me to say that Devney Perry’s Garnet Flats is a heart-wrenching, gorgeous read. This is a standard, a staple of her storytelling. Each romance compels you to read more books on her booklist because the characters steal your heart and the stories engage you. 

Garnet Flats encompasses all of these qualities. I finished it a couple of days ago, well before the release day. I ate it up like the most decadent creme brulee, and it’s left me reflecting on the reason I couldn’t put it down or why I can’t seem to stay away from Perry’s stories. These are my reflections:

  1. There is regionalism in Perry’s romance. She crafts her stories in areas in Big Sky country, and the setting becomes as much a character as, say, Talia and Foster in Garnet Flats. In fact, the setting feels necessary in her stories as they tend to represent the different characters. Foster is Vegas until he meets Quincy, Montana. And Garnet Flats, this rugged, yet majestic piece of land on her family’s property represents Talia. Perry is the Queen of Setting the Scene in her stories, and it has become her unique signature.
  2. There is nothing necessarily inventive with Talia and Foster’s second chance at romance. Perry isn’t necessarily inventing the romance wheel with Garnet Flats, but the nuance of Foster’s undying love for Talia is the hook for her story. Oftentimes, in second-chance romances, past loves ride into town and act ashamed or guilt-ridden about leaving behind a love. Much of the story is about the character realizing his/her need for their abandoned love. With Garnet Flats, Foster comes ready to win Talia’s heart, and he never gives up. He attacks winning her over as he does preparing for a bout. It’s what we love about romances: a person unflinchingly tenacious in their pursuit of the person they love. And ultimately this is what made me enraptured with Talia and Foster’s journey.
  3. Talia allows herself the opportunity for a second chance, and Perry times this well. I’ve read too many romances of late when the author prolongs this portion of the story, and it slows it down. In Garnet Flats, Perry finds the right combination of Talia’s forgiveness and readiness to accept Foster and her final acceptance of him. It isn’t protracted, but it’s developed within a timeframe that invests her reader deeply into her book. 
  4. The Edens are a delight. As the ancillary characters of this story, they bring humor to ameliorate the tension of Talia and Foster’s reconciliation. They also provide the emotional support necessary for Talia’s emotional journey. Their inclusion in each story also allows us a bit of insight into past and future books, crafting a deeper devotion to Devney Perry’s series. 

This is what I came up with as I pondered the impact of Perry’s storytelling. Garnet Flats creates more longing for future stories. Perry’s sense of storytelling captivates you and creates a fervor for more. If the epilogue for Garnet Flats is any indication, there are a few more delicious books to read in this fabulous series. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 If you adore second chance romances and Devney Perry, run and grab Garnet Flats, the next story in her The Edens series. It’s LIVE NOW! ✍🏻

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 Garnet Flats by Devney Perry is now live! 

Talia Eden loved Foster Madden for one year, two months and eleven days. It was on day 438 that her love died. The day he chose to marry her best friend. The day she vowed never to think of Foster again.

Until years later when he has the audacity to show up in her small hometown of Quincy, begging for her help.

The ink on his divorce papers is barely dry, yet he comes armed with apologies and promises. She knows it’s all a ploy. Foster is the king of games and secrets. But he’s got delusions the size of Montana if he thinks she’ll help him train for a world championship fight.

Except Talia has forgotten exactly what made Foster famous. The man has dedicated his life to victory. He’s steadfast. He’s determined. And he won’t stop fighting until he’s won her heart.

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3P0iU7F

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3kLusOk

Nook: https://bit.ly/3FoijrV

Kobo: https://bit.ly/37nv9u4

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3Opkle9

Audible: https://adbl.co/3aTFRtZ

Narrated by: Cindy Kay & Connor Crais

Goodreads: https://geni.us/3IdS0

Meet Devney

Devney is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Washington with her husband and two sons. Born and raised in Montana, she loves writing books set in her treasured home state. After working in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her family. Writing one book, let alone many, was not something she ever expected to do. But now that she’s discovered her true passion for writing romance, she has no plans to ever stop.

Connect with Devney

Website: www.devneyperry.com

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2kncXnb

Amazon: https://geni.us/nAXkP

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/devneyperrybooks

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324585607979213/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/devneyperry

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/devneyperry

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2v1Hr7t

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/devneyperry

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Staci Hart’s Run for Your Honey ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

In a perfect world, Staci Hart’s Bennet Family would have a massive soiree with her Blum Family, and the literary world would be “right as rain” (a saying I’d imagine one of the Blum sisters saying). In her newest offering and the last of her Blum’s Bees series, Run for Your Honey, Staci Hart brings an emotionally wrought, replete conclusion to a series that has stolen my heart.  Rounding out this series is Jo’s story, a second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance. Duke, her former paramour, returns home to run against Jo for the town’s mayor position. Their chemistry is evident from the moment of their meeting, and their feelings from the past are undeniable. From its very first chapter, I fell in love with Duke and Jo’s journey, and Staci Hart made my heart hurt, butterflies swirl in my stomach at their trouble, and satiated my hunger for the conclusion of this beautiful series of strong women who stand against the injustices of their town. 

If I have any criticism of Run for Your Honey, it would be its end. Staci Hart deftly writes the torture of Duke and Jo’s enemies-to-lovers journey. The push and pull of their attraction to each other requires time, and Hart ensures her readers’ emotional interest in their coupling by carefully taking us through their past and present complications. However, at the resolution of the falling action of their journey, the ending feels rushed, excised together like Frankenstein’s monster to present their happy ending. While Run for Your Honey satiates your hunger for the series, its ending was remiss in developing the fullness of Duke and Jo’s HEA. Does it hit wrong? No, it simply needed a bit more development. Even more, I’d love to see a bonus epilogue for the sisters because a curse has threatened their love lives, and we leave this book without knowing if it was finally set right. Even more, a novella for their mama would be a lovely little nibble. Asking these of any writer is obviously ridiculous, but these are the tethers of questions still left behind at the end of this heartfelt story. 

Now is the time if you haven’t launched yourself into a Staci Hart romance, into the Blum’s Bees stories. Hart is a talented writer who continues to write deeper into the world of romance. Her ability to write intriguing characters who showcase the troubles of their worlds firmly makes her books feel like necessary reads in the world of romance.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 3.5 ⭐️ Review: Allie Everhart’s If I Could ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 3.5 ⭐️

Each month, I’ve decided to read a new author to me. Based on her cover’s subtle, beautiful design and her blurb that teases but gives nothing away, I chose Allie Everhart for her book, If I Could. With the promise of angst, I dived into this new book. Everhart’s story is good, utilizing a treasure trove of tropes” small-town romance, a bit of suspense, opposites attract, and a little hate-to-love with attraction at first. Was I hoping for a bit more from it? Yes. Was it as angsty as I believed? No. 

Her main characters, Kyle and Sage, are likable. Even in the beginning when Kyle attempts to put Sage off with his grumpy demeanor, you want to know his story. Everhart crafts Sage in a way that we can know her; we easily earn her backstory. However, Everhart utilizes Kyle to create the suspense of her story. We don’t learn much of his background until almost 80 percent. This has two repercussions: 1) there is an inconsistency in Kyle’s characterization. For me, this created problems partly because Kyle’s changes in mood were immediate.  It causes a whiplash effect throughout much of the book. Secondly, it slows the pacing of the book down. The actual action of the story comes much later. This means Kyle and Sage’s story spins in a circle for much of the book. This was frustrating as a reader, and I found myself easily pulled from Kyle and Sage’s romance.

The ancillary characters of the story, Hank, Nina, and Josh, bring levity to Sage and Kyle’s journey. I’d love to see a book for Nina and Josh. In fact, I think they’d have more chemistry than Sage and Kyle. Because, ultimately, that is what was missing for me. The investment in feeling didn’t occur until almost the end of the book. Even then, Kyle and Sage are sweet, but they didn’t impress themselves upon me.

Will I read more from Allie Everhart based on If I Could? If it’s the right book. Maybe another cover and blurb will capture my attention, but I was expecting a bit more from this book than I received. Did I like Kyle and Sage? Yes. Did their story steal my breath and tap into my emotions? Not really. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Max Monroe have DEFINITELY saved the best for last. Remy and Maria in The Redo are pure titillating romance. This story will absolutely steal your heart. Run and grab this NOW! ✍🏻

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He’s a blast from her past,
but he feels like her future.

The Redo, an all-new forced proximity, second-chance rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Max Monroe, is now available!

Put a finger down if you’ve ever been a single woman who got stuck in a New York City elevator in the middle of a summer blackout with your former high school sweetheart—whom you haven’t seen in years—while pregnant with a baby that isn’t biologically yours. And you can’t believe how handsome that blast from your past is, so you unwittingly flirt with him a little even though your life is so crazy complicated you’re barely keeping your head above water, but everything about him makes you think you could totally still be in love with him.

*puts a finger down*

What? Just me?

Needless to say, my current status is thorny. And no, I didn’t miss how close that word is to another one.

Even though he’s the epitome of tall, dark, and incredibly handsome, Remington Winslow has been a single bachelor for most of his life. It’s clichéd and basic—until you consider the fact that once upon a terrible time, he got left at the altar.

He doesn’t do relationships. He definitely doesn’t fall in love.

And I’m just trying to survive a tangled web of unexpected motherhood and running one of the top real estate firms in the city that never sleeps.

He’s the jaded guy who doesn’t want to settle down, and I’m the career-focused woman with more baggage than a 747 can hold.

We’re just two friends who used to be in love.

Now, if someone would tell my hormones I’m not a teenager anymore, I’d be set.

Grab your copy today, exclusively on Amazon!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3spUdb2
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/TheRedo_Ebook

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3FAezDW

About Max Monroe
Many moons ago, a dynamic duo of romance authors teamed up under the pseudonym Max Monroe, and, well, the rest is history…

Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far.

Connect with Max Monroe
Website: www.authormaxmonroe.com
Newsletter: www.authormaxmonroe.com/newsletter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormaxmonroe/
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1561640154166388/
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Instagram: www.instagram.com/authormaxmonroe
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe1jv5kQ/
Goodreads: https://goo.gl/8VUIz2

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✍🏻 If you haven’t met Hutton and Felicity, what are you waiting for? Melanie Harlow’s Tease is AVAILABLE NOW! ✍🏻

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Could Hutton French and I actually be right for each other, or is it all just one big tease?

TEASE, an all new sizzling friends to lovers, fake engagement small town romantic comedy from USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow, is now available!

Read my 4.5 ⭐️ review HERE.

I didn’t mean to say I was engaged to a hot billionaire–it just slipped out.

In my defense, I’d had a really bad haircut, a really strong drink, and I was trying to save face in front of the Mean Girl at my high school reunion.

Lucky for me, I happen to know a hot billionaire. Hutton French and I have been friends forever, and even though big social gatherings are not his thing, I called him from the coat closet and begged him for a favor–show up and play my fake fiancé for the night.

Except that word of our engagement spreads like wildfire. Our families are ecstatic. We’re front page news. My little food blog is launched into the stratosphere.

Of course, I offer to set the record straight right away, but Hutton wants to give it a little time–the phony engagement will keep his matrimony-mad mother and every matchmaking granny in town off his back.

He even suggests I move in with him to make the ruse more real.

And we don’t stop there.

We practice kissing. Undressing each other. Saying things–and doing things–we’d never dare if we weren’t pretending. Because it’s all for show, right? We’re just role-playing. Hutton doesn’t want a real relationship, and I don’t want to get hurt. But the more time we spend faking it, the more I start to wonder.

Could Hutton French and I actually be right for each other, or is it all just one big tease?

Grab your copy today or read FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xm3ELq
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/teaseMH

Keep reading for a look inside TEASE!

“Want something to drink? Whiskey or scotch?”
“No, thanks. Mostly I just want to take these heels off.”
“Leave them on.”
I was already bending down to unbuckle one ankle strap. I looked up and saw him standing there with his glass in his hand. “What?”
“Leave them on. And come over here.”
I straightened up and took one tiny step.
“On your hands and knees.”
My breath caught. I could feel his eyes on me. Instantly I understood what this was, and even though I was a little nervous, I wanted to play along. I wanted to please him this way.
The only problem was, I wasn’t entirely sure I could get to my knees in this tight dress. But I said a quick prayer and dropped to my knees on the carpet in one smooth motion. Thankfully, the dress material had some stretch, and the seams didn’t pop.
“Good girl,” he said quietly, igniting a firestorm in my blood that surprised me. “Now come here.”
My heart thrummed fast and loud as I lowered my palms to the floor and slowly closed the distance between us. I’d never done anything like this in my life—who am I right now?—but I liked the way it made me feel.
Tempting. Seductive. Alluring. I’d never thought of myself that way before, but here and now, in this tight little black dress with the red satin heels, crawling toward a gorgeous, powerful man in a suit in our Manhattan hotel suite? My billionaire fake fiancé? It was easy to imagine I wasn’t myself at all.
When I reached his feet, I sat back on my heels and looked up. Our eyes met. His lean, muscular silhouette looked imposing above me. Even that rebel lock of hair had been tamed into submission tonight.
He took another sip of his drink and set the glass on the table. Pulled the chair at the head of the table aside. Loosened the knot in his tie. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“If there’s a point tonight where you are not, you should tell me.” He slipped the tie from his collar.
I swallowed hard. “Like a safe word?”
His mouth hooked up on one side. His hand freed the top button of his shirt. “You already have a safe word?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I’ve never needed one before.”
“You do now.” He undid a second button. “So what will it be?”
Of course, I couldn’t fucking think of anything, and I panicked.
“Roy Kent,” I blurted.
He cocked his head, his hand still on his shirt. “Who’s Roy Kent?”
“Never mind. I’ll think of another one.”
Do not say Oklahoma.
Do not say bumblebee.
I racked my brain for something else. “Romeo,” I said breathlessly. “That’s what I’ll say. Romeo.”
He set his tie on the table and offered me a hand.
Placing my palm in his, I rose to my feet. “Is anything going to hurt?” I asked, picturing whips, chains, ball gags, metal cuffs and clamps, shiny rubber gloves.
“I don’t need to inflict pain to feel in control, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Okay. Should I—”
But that was all I got out because he spun me around and clamped a hand over my mouth, pressing his body tight against my back.

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3Q40TWp

About Melanie Harlow
USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like Ted, Lasso, Schitt’s Creek, and Fleabag. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.

Melanie is the author of the BELLAMY CREEK series, the CLOVERLEIGH FARMS series, the ONE & ONLY series, AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, and the FRENCHED series. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.

Connect with Melanie
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2RPwr51
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NPkYKs
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/36kL7yB
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2NW3UtA
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR1ecpH1/
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2sVOz55
Join Melanie’s Reader Group: https://bit.ly/3mYzBBo
Stay up to date with new releases and sign up for Melanie’s mailing list: http://bit.ly/2P7MATT
Website: www.melanieharlow.com

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Skye Warren and Amelia Wilde’s The Crash ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Skye Warren and Amelia Wilde’s The Crash is foreboding, a warning of what’s to come. This story follows Carter Morelli, the absentee brother of the Morelli family from the Midnight Dynasty world. In this prelude to Force of Nature, we gain access to a bit of Carter’s background, and we are introduced to June Porter, the photographer he’s been tasked to fly to a photo shoot. There are fireworks between them from the beginning, but Carter believes he is too good and innocent for him. Over the course of this novella, their plane crashes, and we are left to wonder the “why.” Carter is broody and alpha, while June is determined and insightful. We can already see that June sees more in Carter than most people which acts as the perfect set-up for the next book. The Crash is a quick nibble that you won’t want to miss.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Melanie Harlow’s Tease ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

“She was familiar to me, and yet she was a revelation.”

Hutton French and Felicity MacAllister are a revelation. In the world of romance, we often read very “put-together” characters. This isn’t always the case, but it is more so than not. Hutton and Felicity are not this. From the outside, Hutton may seem to be: he’s an extraordinarily handsome billionaire. Yet, Hutton and Felicity are like me, hyperthinkers, fiction makers in their minds. And because of this, their story is a slow burn evolution into love. Melanie Harlow’s Tease isn’t passion on fire. It isn’t a quick jump into bed between friends. This is a lot of misses and misinterpretations, and these lead you by a tether through Harlow’s Tease. 

Hutton and Felicity have been friends since middle school, and they’ve liked each other most of that time. However, Harlow has crafted two people who are their own worst enemies. Hutton is awkward, dare I say a bit of a neurodivergent character which makes him an exciting characterization. In romancelandia, handsome billionaires are self-possessed and controlled. In his mind, this isn’t the case. Hutton, in a word, is messy. As such, he doesn’t act upon his feelings because he second-guesses his actions. Felicity is also complicated, mostly because she plays the comparison game, contrasting herself with her sisters, Millie and Winnie. Additionally, she has a secret from her childhood that shades her understanding of relationships, While she isn’t like Hutton in his neurodivergent ways, Felicity manifests her anxieties by cutting her hair and speaking without thinking about the consequences. This leads to the drama and excitement of Tease: a fake engagement. All of the messiness of their characterizations conspires to build a romance that captivates Harlow’s readers, at least it did that for me. 

What captivated me the most about Tease is the uneasiness of Hutton and Felicity’s coupling contrasted with its safety. Felicity adds ease to Hutton’s life. She sees him in ways that others don’t. She breathes fresh wind into the space of his mind’s anxieties. And this all happens as they struggle to understand their burgeoning relationship. While Hutton fights against his former rules about relationships, he is comforted by Felicity’s acceptance of him. It’s such an interesting place to inhabit in Tease, but it’s what makes the friends-to-lovers trope work in Harlow’s book. 

I gobbled Tease on my plane ride home from Book Bonanza. It wiled away the flight time home. If there is any big revelation after reading this story, it’s the constant reminder that I’d love to inhabit Melanie Harlow’s Cloverleigh Farms world, if it was only real. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 If you love a decidedly alpha hero who has shut down his feelings for love, then you will LOVE Vi Keeland’s The Boss Project, now available. Merrick Crawford falls HARD! ✍🏻

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Title: The Boss Project
Author: Vi Keeland
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 11, 2022
BLURB
The first time I met Merrick Crawford was during my job interview.
Well, technically, I’d met him twenty minutes earlier when he’d barged into a fitting room a few doors down from my appointment.
I yelled. He yelled. After an argument while standing in my bra, I proceeded to smash the door into the gorgeous jerk, trying to yank it shut.
As you might imagine, I was freaked out when I discovered that the rude guy was my potential new boss.
Yet he didn’t seem to recognize me. Or so I thought… Until we wound up bickering again during my interview and he told me to go sniff my armpit.
Okay, so maybe I hadn’t exactly been changing when he walked in on me. In my defense, I’d been stuck on a hot train for two hours and wanted to make sure I didn’t smell.
I obviously didn’t expect to get the job. But somehow an invitation to a second interview arrived in my inbox.
Before I left, I asked to see Merrick. I needed to know why I was even in consideration after our disastrous start.
Turned out, Merrick only wanted to hire me because I was the least competent candidate. It seemed his board was making him fill the position, against his wishes.
I didn’t really want to work in a place where my boss expected me to fail. But I figured maybe I’d enjoy proving him wrong. It was a little thing I dubbed the boss project.
What I wasn’t prepared for was that there would be other things I’d enjoy doing to Merrick Crawford.
Getting involved with the boss wasn’t the smartest choice.
But you know what they say about choices: Some we regret, some we are proud of. I just had no idea where this one was going to land.
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AUTHOR BIO
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY VI
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU