Showing results for "The Start of Us Lauren Blakely" in All Categories

It started as one night. It turned into a friendship. Then Harley became my everything. She owns me, heart, mind and body. And for a few brief days, our future seems bright and certain. Until, the past wraps its arms around us in so many terrible ways. Someone I never expected to see again reappears in my life. Trying to keep us apart. I’ll do anything for her, but the question is - will anything even be enough?

I swear I’m changing. I’m trying so damn hard to step into the wild unknown of my future. At least Trey is on the other side waiting for me, and he’s the closest I’ve ever come to something real, something true, something like love instead of addiction. But when I learn what the man I love has been hiding from me, I fear our future will be riskier than I ever could have imagined. And I don’t know how the hell I’ll ever be ready for it.

In public, we act as besotted newlyweds, but in private, we’re at each other’s throats. He’s competitive, arrogant, and surly. The guy’s never cracked a smile in his life. He’s jealous of my ex, he glares at my high heels, and insists he’s not attracted to me. He’s only marrying me for citizenship. Fighting with Alexei is more fun than expected, though, and beneath his grouchy exterior, Alexei is surprisingly caring, protective, and generous. He cooks for me and worries about my safety.

When her happily-ever-after is shattered by a fiancé who disappears along with her life savings, Lorena desperately needs a new start. Then her seemingly perfect parents separate, and her mother decides to return to Corfu, the island of her birth, to renovate a family beach house. Lorena goes too, keen for a chance to shut the world out for a while. The sun-soaked island with its stunning beaches and glittering sea is just the distraction Lorena needs. Not least handsome, mysterious Christos. But as long-held family secrets start to emerge, clouds gather over their Greek island paradise.

When I'm not making waffles for my son Jeremy or teaching him how to swim, I’m running a billion-dollar business. My life is scheduled to the minute. So, when the nanny unexpectedly quits, I need a replacement. Riley is not what I expected. She just graduated law school and wants a summer job before starting her legal career. My son Jeremy instantly likes her—she makes him laugh until his cheeks hurt. Hell, she makes me feel carefree too, and I haven’t let my guard down ever since Jeremy’s mom left.

When Lance Spector quit the CIA, he swore he was out for good. One more government lie and he would go off the deep end. They could find someone else to do their dirty work. As far as he was concerned, Washington, Langley, the Pentagon could all go to hell.

That smoking hot one-night stand with a former rock star? Turns out, he's my son's new teacher. Oops. But I didn't know that the night I met Campbell. All I knew was he played my body the same way he played a guitar - like he owned it. My libido is still high-fiving me after being self-served for too many years, and we're both ready for another night or two of fun, especially since we don't just have chemistry in bed - we connect over everything. That is, until I learn he's the man who'll be coming to my house twice a week to teach my son the best music lessons money can buy.

Ten years ago, I let the love of my life slip through my fingers. It’s my greatest regret, especially since she’s all but disappeared. When she walks back into my world unexpectedly, I have one mission - win her back. Whatever it takes. But the gorgeous, brilliant, tough-as-iron Shannon has secrets of her own, and a family past she’s trying to escape. Slowly but surely, I break down her walls over our sinful nights together, with a connection more passionate than ever, an intimacy more fiery than it was before.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The world’s most celebrated thriller writer and author of The Da Vinci Code returns with his most stunning novel yet—a propulsive, twisty, thought-provoking masterpiece that will entertain readers as only Dan Brown can do. Robert Langdon, esteemed...

My best friend is gorgeous, wildly successful, and loves to spoil me. He’s also sworn off love. Which is why Nate Harper is the perfect man to help me. I’ve spent my life being in control. Now I want to learn how to let go, and Nate decides he’s the only one who can teach me.

I didn’t know who the smoldering man in the expensive suit was that first night. Only that he was commanding. Intense. And exactly what I needed to forget my heartbreak. But there’s no forgetting him the next day when Jack Sullivan walks into my office. Philanthropic billionaire, brilliant businessman, my brand-new client…And off-limits in every possible way. We should have walked away. Instead, we made a new arrangement. Thirty nights. No promises. Just stolen moments in penthouses, in Paris hotel rooms, on Manhattan balconies.

I don’t know what love is anymore. Well, that’s not entirely true, but I’m going to tell you a little secret: I’ve lost the spark. You know the kind of spark I’m talking about? Where butterflies take flight in your stomach from two hands innocently colliding. Yeah, that spark. Except I haven't felt that feeling in forever; there is nothing left inside of me. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem - but I’m a writer on a serious deadline, and my editor is breathing down my neck for a romantic Nicholas Sparks-type love story.

When the publicity team of the new local restaurant Going in Blind begins their search for a hot, local celebrity to promote the wildly popular eatery, they couldn't have found a better person than Noely Clark. A hopeless romantic with an exceedingly demanding schedule, she found it impossible to find the man of her dreams so being set up on three very different, very attractive, and very distinctive blind dates, seemed like a great idea, but who will she choose?

I live my life by a few simple rules - let no one in, trust only my family, and don’t ever spend more than three nights with a woman. Those are easy enough to abide by when I meet gorgeous, captivating and absolutely brilliant Sophie Winston, who wants nothing more than to explore all her sinful desires with me after dark. Desires that put me firmly in control in the bedroom. That works for me - as long as I can keep the secrets I need to protect. Not only the ones about my family, but the ones about how she’s interwoven into my dangerous past.

Living in a year around Christmas town has its drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave - I mean housekeeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits. And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

As a professional matchmaker, my biggest job this holiday season should be simple: find a date for the sexy single dad hockey player—aka my brother’s best friend—for his team’s fancy Christmas Eve gala. Sure Rowan’s hot as a crackling fire and spicier than a gingerbread man, but he hasn’t just sworn off romance. The Christmas hater has made a bet that I can’t find him a holidate.

Handsome, charismatic, and charming, Jensen Lakes is an enigma in a designer suit. But his playboy reputation is a persona—one of many—that he uses in his unique line of work. A priceless heirloom goes missing right before the holidays, and Jensen is hired to find it. Tracking down the perpetrator will be simple. He’ll be in and out before Santa hits chimneys.

Veronica “Vero” Mercer grew up with grifters for parents, and she knows her way around a con. When grad school bills pile up and her friends are in trouble, she turns her art history skills into a forgery side hustle. It’s supposed to be a short term deal, but her work draws the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a reserved, very British professor. Instead of turning her in, Ashworth kidnaps her—politely—and makes an unusual offer: forge a mysterious ancient manuscript for him.

It’s the holiday season and Caleb just got quite the Hannukah gift. The handsome scientist was able to buy his dream home: a brownstone with an apartment upstairs and a cozy mystery-themed bookshop downstairs. But when he moves in, he’s shocked to find that the bookshop is fully operational while its enigmatic owner has vanished. Caleb may be an expert in scientific research, but running a bookshop is entirely novel to him.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

Jules, Silas, and Grant were once inseparable — until Jules and Grant got engaged, Silas inherited a billion-dollar empire and everything fell apart. Then the unthinkable happens. Grant is gone. And Jules is alone.

Welcome to the Lilydale Foundation Center... home of second chances. At least, that's what they tell us it is. It's basically a glorified prison and asylum for the deranged with good alibis. When the police pulled me out of my burning home, along with what was left of my Father, I was deemed broken — even if I was the reason the fire started. So, here I am at my new home. They think they can save us with their fancy facility. But what insane person decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of young, unhinged people together?

After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself. The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter.

The moment I met Aston Cage, I knew my life had changed. A single dance later, we’re both all in. Until he ghosted me. Then my boss fires me for dancing with the enemy. Three months later, working for the Cages is my last resort. Now I’ll work beside him day by day, trying not to let my feelings take control. It’s heaven and hell. Except I’m starting to think there’s a part of this story I’m missing.

Charlotte Patcham's dream job running the Bath Physick Garden has turned into a nightmare: the underfunded garden has become a target for vandals, and her career and her social life are succumbing to mildew. So why does she hesitate to take the job of Head Gardener at Hampshire's famous Tillingford Hall? But when fate pushes Charlie towards Tillingford Hall can she learn to work alongside Seb so they can get everything ready for the public in time for the opening Christmas concert?

The instant New York Times bestseller! “Sublime…Colgan infuses her latest book with humor, wit, suspense and a perfectly cast love triangle.”--USA Today ""The Christmas Bookshop is literary hot chocolate with a bourbon shot: hot, sweet but with a surprising emotional kick.""--The Times...

After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

The last words I said to my best friend were “I trust you”. Then the world went dark, and I nearly lost everything. While my best friend’s little sister lost even more. I promised him that I’d take care of her—but if he knew my current thoughts when it came to Harper, he’d have never trusted me. She’s too young for me. Too bright to my shadows. And too tempting. Now I’m stuck in our small town, and I can’t escape her. I’d rather hide in my cabin, restoring what was once lost. Only Harper won’t let me. I’ve already held onto more secrets than my family knows.

When Aethelthryth—“Ethel” to her modern-day Manhattan neighbors—finds her sworn nemesis Lazlo Enyedi with no memory of who or what they are, an ancient hunt becomes an unexpected chance at forbidden passion. He’s crashing on her couch, solving her sudoku puzzles, and looking at her like she’s his eternal flame (minus the whole bursting-into-ashes part). As his memories slowly return, Ethel realizes she might be in danger of losing more than just her head…

It’s the annual hunt for Sloane and her vigilante family of serial killers. Track the most cold-blooded psychos imaginable and take them down. This summer’s prey is Allan Munster, a churchgoing chicken farmer who slaughters more than fowl. The rules of the game: Divide into teams, devise a strategy, and make a move—the more cutthroat the better. May the best team win. The players are closing in. All eyes are on Munster. But there’s a hitch in the family sport this year. Someone might be watching them.

A USA TODAY Bestseller A holiday romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely with spice and fake dating that follows a fiery designer who teams up with her charming billionaire boss for a week-long Christmas competition, and their pretend holiday romance soon starts to feel...

At her brother’s wedding, Goldie Jacobs brushes shoulders with Ace Bonetti, his childhood best friend turned Hollywood hotshot. Ace has been crushing on Goldie ever since high school, and seeing her again reminds him exactly why. They spend one toe-curling night together, then part ways, expecting nothing more. But when those moments under the mistletoe felt so right, how can they ever let each other go?

Beckett: If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart.

Simone's European hiking excursion is cut short when she is brutally attacked by a wolf-like creature in the Piedmont Mountains of Italy. When she awakens from the attack, she finds she has been changed in inexplicable ways and settles into an isolated lifestyle. While she is ever hopeful for a cure, she is also acutely aware that she may never be the same again.