Karla Sorensen

If you've ever seen your teenage crush ten years later, and he turns out to be a complete jerk, then you know how Molly Ward feels. The last time she saw Noah Griffin was the regrettable day that she decided to climb into his bedroom window and turn her unrequited crush into something more. That day was bad enough, but things are about to get worse. Noah has become one of the best football players in the country, and he's just landed on Molly's front step. As a new addition to the Washington Wolves roster, Noah's presence is the key to Molly's promotion in the front office. The problem is, Noah wants nothing to do with Molly, and his surly attitude is making her job very difficult. But he's got another thing coming if he thinks Molly will be intimidated by one grumpy football player, no matter how much he hates being around her. Once these two go head to head, their mutual dislike explodes into undeniable chemistry. But with what they have at stake, they just might detonate everything else along with it.

A Hate to Love Sports Romance

Focused

Allie Sutton just got a new job.Not one she wants, and definitely not one she's prepared for. She hadn't seen her dad in years, so the last thing she expects upon his sudden death is to inherit the thing he loved more than anything (or anyone) ... the professional football team he owned for the last twenty years.Luke Pierson does not want a new boss.What he wants is to be a good father to his daughter, the best quarterback possible for his teammates. What he doesn't need is a blonde bombshell ruining the team's chances at another championship. Especially when that bombshell turns out to be his new neighbor. The neighbor he was a complete jerk to the first time they met.For the sake of the team, they treat each other like complete professionals. In public, at least. Behind closed doors, it's a different story. And the fallout of giving in to that heat is something neither one of them can see coming.

The Bombshell Effect

Logan Ward doesn't want any more women in his life.Being a football player and legal guardian to his four younger sisters means his playbook is full. However, one of them just landed in the hospital, which gives his brother the shot he needs to challenge Logan for custody.Legal counsel says there's only one thing Logan can do-find himself a wife.Paige McKinney doesn't always think things through.Like walking away from her modeling career without a thought of what might come next. She really doesn't think it through when she proclaims herself Logan's fiancé at the hospital, simply because the sexy-albeit grumpy-football player forgot his cell phone at a party and security won't let her pass. It's not her fault it was overheard by the worst possible person.A bargain is struck, and a fake marriage is the perfect solution. But the simple solution creates a whole new problem: they're not as different as they seem. The reluctant groom has fire inside him, and his impetuous bride is about to light the match.

A Marriage of Convenience Sports Romance

The Marriage Effect

Smartypants Romance

I'm Levi Buchanan, and until five years ago, I thought the legend of my family's curse was a load of crazy, Southern nonsense. No curse can make you fall in love at first sight. No curse can force a true, deep, passionate, all-consuming love that will haunt you all the days of your life. Then I met Jocelyn Abernathy and I realized how completely wrong I was. The problem is, Jocelyn guards her feelings like well-armed soldier. She's the most beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I've ever met. Every time she talks, I want to kiss the living daylights out of her. But I can't. Because when we met, she didn't need true love. She needed a best friend. And that's what I've been to her... for five years. But when Jocelyn meets a handsome stranger her first day working at Donner Bakery and she lets him buy her a dill pickle cupcake, I realize with ominous regret that I may have missed my window with my best friend. If I can't get her to see past our friendship, my new curse may be to watch the love of my life move on with someone else. 'Baking Me Crazy' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Baking Me Crazy

Every action has a consequence, and Claire Ward knows it. And yet, even knowing that her decision to swap places with her identical twin sister, Lia, for a night could be disastrous, she still does it. Why? Because it will give her an evening with the man she's been crushing on for years, Lia's best friend, Finn. Miss Straight A Student has thought through all the angles, and knows the risk is worth it. And everything would have been fine, if Finn had been the one to show up at her door. But it wasn't. Bauer Davis- Finn's half brother and his exact opposite in just about every definable category is the one waiting for her instead. A professional snowboarder, Bauer is covered in ink, full of attitude, and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Olympus. The kind of bad boy that Claire has never been attracted to before. Now the good girl is with the wrong brother for a night, and when the consequence is that they have to pretend to be together for an event, it's nothing she could have predicted. But maybe, just maybe, what makes Bauer so bad, is exactly what Claire needs.

A Sports Romance

Faked

If you've ever had a steamy one-night stand with a British football player and then find yourself pregnant with his baby, you know how Lia Ward feels. To be fair, Lia didn't know who Jude McAllister was when they met. Studying abroad for her master's program, all she knows is that she's a little lonely and he's very charming, even as they have an epically sexy argument about which type of football is superior. In Jude's mind, shagging the feisty American girl is exactly what he needs. He's been fighting the clock of his long-standing football career and the younger players primed to take his position. Proving that he can feel like his old self again-something he's been trying to do with everyone in his life-should be easier after blowing off steam with Lia. But oh baby, when a plus sign pops up on Lia's pregnancy test, that 'one night' becomes a whole lot more. Now Lia and Jude have to navigate their impossible-to-ignore chemistry, and prepare for the parenting game, something neither of them know how to play.

Floored

Forbidden

Have you ever fake dated your bodyguard? I don't recommend it.

Especially if he's anything like Erik Wilder: former football player, world class know-it-all and unapologetic grump.

To be clear, I didn't want a bodyguard (hence the fake dating idea). Most days, I can’t figure out why he wants the job either. We drive each other insane, probably because we’re as opposite as two people can be.

He’s suspicious, never talks about his past and has the comfort skills of a cactus. I’m a happily-ever-after kind of girl who knows exactly what she wants out of life.

Erik’s words might say that the lines have to stay firm between us, but those dark eyes of his? They tell another story when he looks at me.

He’s just as stubborn as I am, but when our fake dating plan starts to feel a lot more real, it's only a matter of time before his professional walls come crashing down.

I just have to hope my heart doesn't get buried in the rubble.

The Plan

The headline could write itself: Matthew Hawkins, star defensive end, comes out of retirement to play for the Washington Wolves. Which is perfectly fine by Ava Bake

The Ex Effect

The Lie

Hate at first sight couldn't possibly exist, right? That's what Grace Buchanan thought, before her useless car stranded her on the side of a deserted road just inside the Green Valley city limits. When Tucker Haywood--tall and handsome and full of southern charm-- shows up to help, her reaction to him is the strongest thing she's ever felt in her life, and it makes no freaking sense. It doesn't make much sense to Tucker either. Not why she hates him, or why he finds her so intriguing. He knows well enough that Grace is moving to Green Valley for a fresh start, not to distract him when he's got no room for something like her in his life. The complications between them are endless, but that doesn't stop her definitely not love-at-first-sight feelings from changing into something else entirely. Grace and Tucker are about to learn the hard way that in Green Valley, hating someone has never tasted so sweet. 'Batter of Wits' is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #5 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Batter of Wits

Marrying Beckett Coleman is the best idea I've had in years. I can grant my sick dad’s wish to walk one of his daughters down the aisle, and Beckett has my help solving a custody situation with his daughter. Our plan is to spend a year together, then part ways. Easy, especially since I'm not his type, and he's not mine either.

He’s too quiet and too serious. And while he’s distractingly gorgeous, he’s also my brother’s teammate. Beckett is fake husband material, not the real deal. I just have to remember that.

Until I move in with him. Get to know him. Share a bed with him. Turns out, the line between fake and real isn't just blurry, it's almost impossible to uphold when he looks at me the way he does.

This marriage is a whole lot more complicated than we bargained for. We’re threatening to destroy everything we’ve built, something neither of us can risk.

Marrying Beckett might’ve been the best idea in years. But falling in love with him would be the worst.

One and Only

The Crush

Dylan Steadman has never seen his stubbornness as a bad thing. It's always been easy for him to make up his mind and stick with it. It's why he works a lot, why he doesn't need to make time for a girlfriend, and why he recently decided to move across the country for a new job. His brothers and sister are happily settled, and now that all eyes have turned on him, he needs a change. He does not need a relationship, and moving to Colorado lets him breathe. What he didn't see coming was Kat, the much-too-young-for-him employee at his new restaurant. Kat Perry doesn't have a family. She doesn't even really have friends, but that's by her choice. Her new manager, Dylan, has all the things that she should avoid; the muscles, the eyes, the smile and the kind of white-knight syndrome that she doesn't know what the frick to do with. Dylan should be easy enough to disregard since she's managed to hold people at arm's length her whole life, especially when a relationship is the very last thing she wants. But she can't ignore him, not when he befriends her, and definitely not when they tap into combustible chemistry that threatens to burn down everything around them. So instead of fighting it, they come to an agreement- just friends with a bunch of benefits on the side. Easy, right? Not exactly. Especially when the heart gets involved.

Dylan

Brooke Rossi knows how to stay in control. After all, finding herself a single mother to twins after her 'allergic to responsibility' ex-boyfriend left town has kinda set the bar for whatever might come her way. Except the day-to-day realities of single motherhood has her juggling in a way that she couldn't anticipate, which is why she's one sleepless night away from a padded cell. Her unexpected help comes in the form of Michael Whitfield, unrepentant flirt and alleged manwhore. Michael isn't allergic to responsibility, but he does have a healthy aversion to commitment, until his relationship with Brooke. Their friendship is easy, until it's not. They learn to walk a tight rope of restraint, choosing not to act on their attraction out of respect for the friendship they've built. One scorching, clothes-free visit past the boundaries they put in place, and Brooke finds herself facing the most uncontrollable situation of all: risking her heart to a man who's never had to take care of one before.

Michael

Cole Mallinson has never been able to move on.It's been two thousand, three hundred and sixty-two days since he's seen his ex-wife, Julia. He's never stopped loving her, never stopped wishing she'd come back. Everyone thinks he's lost his mind for never moving on, but they couldn't understand. It was never a choice.Seven years ago, Julia Mallinson left Denver, and even though it's the last place she wants to be, she's back. The years of infertility that she and Cole endured during their marriage wore her down past the point of breaking. And when she left, she didn't look back, couldn't look back, for the sake of her sanity, her heart.Between an accidental run-in at the grocery store and a meddling pregnant sister, Julia is forced to face the man she walked away from. The man who still, after all these years, has never moved on. Though neither has she.And in the end, she's left wondering if the past is ever left in the past.

Cole

There's one thing you should know about Tristan Whitfield: he's been in love with Anna for years.There are two problems with that: she has no idea, and she's married. Or at least, she was.Anna Callahan knows three things about her brother's friend, Tristan: he's quiet, incredibly handsome, and has a smolder that could set the room on fire.For years, it wasn't difficult for Anna to overlook all of that. But when Tristan is the solution to a work problem that could derail her career, he is anything but easy to ignore.To Tristan, the fact that the object of his affection is suddenly single means he should tread lightly. Be the friend she needs until she's ready for more and hope the risk pays off.Because it'll add up to the one thing he wants: her.

Tristan

The one thing Garrett Calder and Aurora Anderson have in common is that they absolutely hate each other. Garrett has the job that Aurora has worked for and wanted for years and it was handed to him on a silver platter, just like everything else in his life. The fact that he manages everything with the most annoyingly handsome smile on his equally annoying, handsome face is just icing on the freaking cake.Aurora is not only the most beautiful, but the smartest, most infuriating woman Garrett has ever had the misfortune of meeting. Her sharp tongue and inability to be charmed by him makes her somehow more maddening, and she's never let him get away with a single thing, not for the eight years they've worked together.Garrett and Aurora are pushed into a situation neither of them want to be in- forced to work together for twelve months or risk losing everything. Twelve months where they can't kill each other. Twelve long months, and only one of them will be left standing at the end. And in the process of surviving it-and each other-they'll discover that there's a very fine line between love and hate.

Garrett

For Rachel Hennessy, it's been an interesting six months. Boyfriend? Cheated on her. Job? She totally just got fired. Starting her own wedding planning business sounds exciting ... in theory. In reality, it's completely terrifying. And on top of all that, the freaking cherry right on top? She just had an ill-timed, alcohol-instigated one-night stand with her bff Casey's brother, Tate. Yeah, that Tate. The one that she's had a teensy, inconvenient crush on for years. But nothing about it is ill-timed or inconvenient for Tate Steadman. Because he finally feels free. Free of the oppressive relationship he'd been in for the past six years. Free to pursue Rachel, because one alcohol-fueled night was not even close to enough for him. He just wished she saw it that way. Because she makes him want more than he ever knew he was capable of. When their one night has unexpected consequences, Rachel has no clue how to trust that he's not just trying to be 'the good guy' who wants to do 'the right thing'. And even though the chemistry between them practically burns down an entire city block when they're together, she doesn't know how to let down the concrete wall she's built up around herself. The 'mistake' of one evening can change the trajectory of two lives, but maybe a mistake is all they really need to push them right into true love.

Light Me Up

Liz Peters hasn't exactly gotten the happily-ever-after she's read about in her Jane Austen books. 'Always a bridesmaid' is more fitting to the way life has been passing this good girl by. About to go postal from loneliness, she meets a man who doesn't seem to fit any of her requirements for a book-worthy hero.Kieran Carter would do just about anything to put a smile on his terminally ill mother's face. When he meets a woman in the ice cream aisle at the grocery store, Kieran finally has opportunity to do just that. If he needs to lie in order to give his mom a little hope? Not a freakin problem.It all seems so neat and tidy. An arrangement is struck that benefits them both, but when lines get blurry and the guilt of lying to everyone they love becomes too much, neither Liz or Kieran can tell what's real and what's for show. And somewhere in the middle is the last person they ever expected to fall in love with.

Karla Sorensen

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