HE'S THE ONE is a book of five novella's by renowned
romance writers.
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service by Kate Angell finds Violet
Cates having had enough of beach bums. She's ready for
someone else and Brad Davis fits the bill. He looks like a
bum ... but it only proves the point ... looks can be
deceiving.
Fish Out of Water by Cat Johnson has Carla Henricks, a
cowgirl meeting up with Mark Ross, an English professor.
Opposites might attract but can they stay together?
Batteries Not Required by Linda Lael Miller. Gayle Hayes
love life is on the fritz, but that's okay by her, all she
needs are batteries until she hooks up with rodeo badboy
from her hometown, Tristan McCullough. He broke her heart
ten years ago, but can he put the pieces back together.
Seducing Tabby by Lucy Monroe finds Tabby Payton in a
quandary. It seems the sexy English spy Caider Maxwell
isn't interested in her beautiful sister, he's interested
in her. How did that happen? And why?
Captivated by Jill Shalvis opens with James Scott in an
interesting predicament, well his ex-wife Ella is in one
anyway. After warning the private investigator to be
careful, what happens? He goes into his vacation condo to
find her naked and handcuffed to the towel rack. He should
just help her get uncuffed, but then again ... so tempting.
HE'S THE ONE is packed full of sweet romance and steamy
sex. It is all here: the secretly wealthy man who falls in
love with the working girl, the smart guy who falls for the
girl who just barely graduates high school, the rekindling
of a past love, the girl who usually lives in the shadow of
her more sophisticated sister, and the couple who should
have worked out their problems instead of giving up. No
matter what your favored reading style might be there is
something here for everyone. Get HE'S THE ONE settle back
and enjoy.
Contrary to popular opinion, Gayle Hayes's love life is
out of service. But when she returns to her small Montana
hometown, rodeo bad boy Tristan McCullough gives her a whole
new lesson in power surge...
JILL SHALVIS
Captivated
James Scott warned his investigator ex–wife Ella
to be more careful. Now he finds the irate woman nearly
naked and handcuffed to the towel rack in his Mexican
vacation condo. He should release her. Then again...
LUCY MONROE
Seducing Tabby
Everybody always wants Tabby Payton's beautiful sister.
But not sexy English spy Calder Maxwell. He wants Tabby,
body and soul, and he's willing to take seduction to new
levels to prove it...
KATE ANGELL
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service
Violet Cates is done with surfing beach bums. She's
ready for a new wave, someone with more ambition than a
grain of sand. Like Brad Davis. He looks like a beach bum,
but looks can be so deceiving...
CAT JOHNSON
Fish Out of Water
Carla Henricks is a cowgirl through and through, but her
lasso has never met an English professor like Mark Ross.
It's true opposites attract. Staying together is the juicy
part...
Excerpt
Seducing Tabby by Lucy Monroe
CHAPTER ONE .
"Secret Service? Really?"
"Jane said her dad said he heard it from Tom Crane, the
realtor."
"Well, Patty Lane said her mother heard from her hair
dresser that he's nobility, like an earl or something."
"Maybe he's both."
Tabby's friends spoke in low undertones laced with
breathless curiosity. Wearing identical expressions of
titillated speculation, the only two women in Port Diamond
shyer than she was turned to face Tabby.
"Do you know anything?" asked one.
"He's got a boat docked here at the marina," the other
added. "A luxury cruiser."
"My dad runs the marina, not me," Tabby reminded them.
"But you've got to have heard something."
Tabby had spent most of her adult life being pumped for
information about her gorgeous, thin sister, Helene. So,
this was nothing new. She was adept at sidestepping answers
she did not want to give, but at least when it came to
Helene, she could answer the inquiries when she wanted to.
However, Tabby knew nothing more than the other women
about the mysterious Englishman who had so recently moved to
Port Diamond.
Nothing except that despite the fact she'd never said
more than ten words to Calder Maxwell, he sparked a desire
in her that fried her nerve endings and froze her vocal
chords. She'd woken up pulsing from a dream induced climax
for the first time in her life the night she'd met him.
"I can tell you he's not Secret Service. He's from
England , not Washington ."
"Well, you know what I mean. He looks like he could
give James Bond a run for his money."
Tabby looked across the room at the gorgeous man
standing with her dad and Helene and had to agree. A cross
between Timothy Dalton and Carry Grant, he was every fantasy
she'd ever had rolled into one perfect package – the
only flaw being, his obvious interest in Helene.
Just like every other male who came into contact with
the Payton sisters, he found Helene's sweet nature and
gorgeous looks irresistible. Tabby had seen them talking on
the pier near his boat house a couple of times, but hadn't
been able to nerve herself up enough to join them. Helene
wouldn't have minded. She was always happy to see her
sister.
Tabby doubted Calder would have been as appreciative,
which is why she'd stayed away...no matter how much she'd
longed to simply stand close enough to hear his voice.
Noticing her gaze still fixed on Calder, Tabby's friend
gave a theatrical sigh. "He's yummy, isn't he?"
"Yes."
At that moment, the object of their speculation turned
and caught the trio of women gawking at him. One corner of
his mouth tilted, but it couldn't quite be called a smile
and his dark gaze assessed them with cool regard.
"Oh, my gosh, he's looking this way. Quick, turn around
and pretend to be getting food at the buffet."
Tabby rolled her eyes. "He's already seen us. I don't
think he'll be fooled." And she didn't particularly want
him thinking she was interested in the buffet.
A throwback to her paternal great–grandmother, she
didn't have the willowy figure of her mom and sister, or
anything approaching her dad's athletic build. Nope, she
was a little too round, a lot too curved, and slightly too
short for that.
"He's headed this way!"
And suddenly she was alone, deserted by her gossiping
friends.
He stopped in front of her, his tall frame towering over
her own five–feet–five–inches. He would
fit in with the rest of her family just fine. In fact, he
and Helene made a striking couple, she thought with an inner
twinge.
"Good evening, Miss Payton."
Her heart fluttered at the smooth English accent and her
lungs refused to issue forth enough air to power words of
greeting. It had felt like this the first time they met in
her bookstore too. He'd come in looking for a book on home
improvement of all things and she'd barely said six words to
him between recommending a title and ringing up his
purchase.
Feeling crowded by his proximity though he wasn't
standing all that close, she took an involuntary step
backward and ran into one of the buffet tables. She grabbed
for the edge to steady herself and got a handful of crab
salad instead.
Turning to look, she stared in horrified stupefaction at
the mess covering her hand. Mom was going to have a hissy
fit. The salad required a two–day prep and was her
most recent culinary pride and joy. Now an entire buffet
size bowl of it was good only for the garbage disposal.
"I can't believe I just did that," she muttered.
"Can I help you?"
She looked up at him then, too upset by her predicament
to be her usual tongue–tied self around him. "Do you
have any suggestions for hiding the evidence?"
"Perhaps, we could take the bowl to the kitchen?"
"And leave a gap on the table?"
He took hold of her wrist and lifted her hand away from
the bowl, careful not to let the crab salad anywhere near
his dinner suit or her dress. "Go clean up and I will take
care of our small disaster."
In spite of her embarrassed chagrin, the feel of his
fingers curled around her wrist was surprisingly nice.
"It's not your disaster." She sighed
self–deprecatingly. "It's mine and I can't leave it
to you." Even if she wished she could.
"Of course, I'm at fault. I startled you." She opened
her mouth to argue, but he shook his head. "Don't let it
concern you. I have some experience in this sort of thing."
"Rescuing women from the wrath of their temperamental
chef mothers?"
He smiled, even white teeth flashing all too briefly.
"Hiding the evidence."
Her eyes widened in mock horror. "Oh, my gosh, you're a
member of the British mafia and here everyone was thinking
you were some sort of displaced nobleman or spy, or
something."
That made him laugh and she felt the sound all the way
to her toes.
"You have a nice laugh." She couldn't believe she'd
said that. Trust her to go from mute to uttering inanities.
What an improvement.
"And you have a charming sense of humor, but you also
have a hand that is about drip crab salad on your lovely
dress."
She extended her arm further from her body, having no
desire to ruin the dress it had taken four hours of shopping
in San Diego to find. "I'll just go wash this off."
She took as long as she could in the ladies room,
washing her hands, tidying her appearance and wishing she
could fall through a hole in the floor rather than go back
out and face Calder Maxwell.
She got a moment alone with the focus of her fantasies
and what did she do?
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