Love Laughter and Steamy Ever Afters (10)
LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND STEAMY EVER AFTERS
(Ten Novels by Ten NYT Bestselling Authors)
BELLA ANDRE
MELISSA FOSTER
LAUREN BLAKELY
VIOLET DUKE
SAWYER BENNETT
CARLY PHILLIPS
ERIN NICHOLAS
MELANIE SHAWN
JESSIE EVANS
CRISTA MCHUGH
Copyright © 2015 All rights reserved
Kindle 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.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, media, brands, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status and registered trademark owners of all branded names referenced without TM, SM, or (R) symbols due to formatting constraints, and is not claiming ownership of or collaboration with said trademark brands.
The books in this ten-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. ©2014 Bella Andre – Can’t Help Falling in Love, ©2014 Melissa Foster – Seaside Dreams, ©2014 Violet Duke – Love, Tussles, and Takedowns, ©2013 Lauren Blakely – Trophy Husband, ©2014 Sawyer Bennett – On the Rocks, ©2014 Carly Phillips – Dare to Desire, ©2015 Erin Nicholas – Out of Bounds, ©2014 Melanie Shawn – Actually Love, ©2014 Jessie Evans – Diamonds and Dust, ©2014 Crista McHugh – Falling for the Wingman.
Ebook ISBN-10: 1-941198-05-8
Ebook ISBN-13: 978-1-941198-05-6
Table of Contents
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Bella Andre
Seaside Dreams
Melissa Foster
Trophy Husband
Lauren Blakely
Love, Tussles, and Takedowns
Violet Duke
On The Rocks
Sawyer Bennett
Dare to Desire
Carly Phillips
Out of Bounds
Erin Nicholas
Actually Love
Melanie Shawn
Diamonds and Dust
Jessie Evans
Falling for the Wingman
Crista McHugh
About This Collection
Love, Laughter, and Steamy Ever Afters contains ten novels from ten New York Times bestselling authors. From the hot big city heroes that make us melt, to the sassy small town heroines that make us smile, this limited edition boxed set has something for everyone. Ten sexy and sweet full-length novels—a wide mix of fun, heart-tugging, addictively romantic love stories—each handpicked by an all-star gathering of ten of today’s most popular contemporary romance authors.
CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE (The Sullivans)
by Bella Andre
He can’t make the mistake of falling for another fire victim. She can’t love–and lose–another man with a dangerous job. Gabe Sullivan & Megan Harris have every reason to stay apart…but they can’t help falling in love.
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SEASIDE DREAMS (Seaside Summers)
by Melissa Foster
Bella Abbascia has quit her job, put her house on the market, and sworn off relationships while she builds a new life in her favorite place on earth, Wellfleet, Massachusetts. That is, until good-time Bella’s prank takes a bad turn and a sinfully sexy police officer Caden Grant appears on the scene. After fourteen years of focusing solely on his son, Caden cannot resist the intense attraction he feels toward beautiful Bella, but starting over proves more difficult than either of them imagined. Can true love really conquer all?
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TROPHY HUSBAND (Caught Up in Love)
by Lauren Blakely
Sometimes you can’t help falling in love, even when you try to do the opposite… McKenna embarks on a playful, ironic quest for a trophy husband after her ex has ditched her, but along the way she meets someone who rocks her world. And she’ll have to choose between protecting her heart from hurt, or letting go of her fears of a new beginning.
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LOVE, TUSSLES, AND TAKEDOWNS (Cactus Creek)
by Violet Duke
After his combat injuries retire him from the military career he wasn’t ready to give up, battle-scarred Hudson Reyes now spends his new life as a movie industry fight scene and weapons specialist simply doing what he knows best: surviving. Until he meets her. The sweet, angel-faced wrecking ball to his good intentions—antique arms authenticator and martial arts maven, Liana Lin. Even though she’s everything he’s told himself he can’t have, sure as sin, if one woman could sneak past the barbed wires he’s wrapped around his heart, it’d be her. Now if only they could stop sparring long enough to find out…
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ON THE ROCKS (The Last Call)
by Sawyer Bennett
He left to travel the world for fame and glory, but only after spurning Gabby Ward and crushing her young heart. Now Hunter Markham has come back home to the salty breeze of the North Carolina Outer Banks and looking at the all-grown-up Gabby in a whole new way. Still bitter over his rebuff years before, Gabby is content to stay far away from him and his dangerously charming ways, but when Hunter presents an offer to her that she simply can’t refuse, she has to battle her ever growing attraction to the man that first taught her about heartbreak.
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DARE TO DESIRE (Dare to Love)
by Carly Phillips
Quarterback Alex Dare, had it all—an all-star football career and his choice of willing women—until injury forces him into early retirement. Social worker Madison Evans grew up in foster homes and knows what it means to have-not. She isn’t impressed by Alex Dare’s wealth or charm. Not since she fell hard for him once before, only to discover she was just one of his too-easy conquests. This time around Madison refuses to succumb. But Alex wants Madison. And if there is one thing Alex does well, it’s to get what he wants. Can he convince Madison to take a risk and dare to love?
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OUT OF BOUNDS (Boys of Fall)
by Erin Nicholas
Wild child Jackson Brady doesn’t think twice about returning home to help out when his beloved high school football coach gets sick. Jackson’s done a lot of growing up in the past twelve years and this is an opportunity to atone for his past sins. But to get back into everyone’s good graces, he needs to prove he’s changed. Sweet, well-respected Annabelle Hartington is the key. If she’ll give him a second chance, everyone will know he’s a new man. Surprisingly, he’s not the only one who’s changed and it turns out nothing stirs his inner bad boy like the former goody-two-shoes.
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ACTUALLY LOVE (Crossroads)
by Melanie Shawn
Real or fake… As VP of public relations for SPC, the beautiful and talented Jessie Sloan knew the difference. The order and control she had in her life was real. Love was fake and she didn’t have time for fake. Win or lose… Sexy, sculpted boxing champ Zach Courtland has had his share of losses in life, but inside the ring, he knew nothing but wins. He was used to taking and landing punches, but little did he kn
ow that he was about to get the knockout of his life.
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DIAMONDS AND DUST (Lonesome Point Texas)
by Jessie Evans
Pike Sherman is a legend in Lonesome Point, a hometown boy who made it to the big leagues. Literally. Professional baseball acquired one hell of a pitching arm and its latest celebrity bad boy when the gifted Pike was drafted. His broken heart came along for the ride, too, but he kept that private. After a few days back in Lonesome Point, Pike can’t imagine life without Tulsi Hearst, the girl he left behind, but when Tulsi’s secret is revealed, his heart is broken all over again. The only thing worse than losing Tulsi, is losing six years with the daughter he didn’t know he had.
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FALLING FOR THE WINGMAN (The Kelly Brothers)
by Crista McHugh
Air Force pilot Caleb Kelly has come back home with one mission in mind—to propose to the woman whose letters and lucky charm helped him survive his deployment in Afghanistan. But when he finds their apartment empty with a note saying she’s left him, he arrives at her mother’s house in rural Alabama too find Kourtney is about to marry another man. Her little sister, Alex, convinces him that the best way to get Kourtney back is to make her think he’s fallen for someone new—her. But when a fake romance becomes all too real, Alex’s deception may leave them both grounded.
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Can’t Help Falling In Love
Bella Andre
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Gabe Sullivan risks his life every day as a firefighter in San Francisco. But after learning a brutal lesson about professional boundaries, he knows better than to risk his heart to his fire victims ever again. Especially the brave mother and daughter he saved from a deadly apartment fire…and can’t stop thinking about.
Megan Harris knows she owes the heroic firefighter everything for running into a burning building to save her and her seven-year-old daughter. Everything except her heart. Because after losing her Navy pilot husband five years ago, she has vowed to never suffer through loving—and losing—a man with a dangerous job again.
Only, when Gabe and Megan meet again and uncontrollable flames of desire ignite between them, how can he possibly ignore her courage, determination, and beauty? And how can she deny not only his strong bond with her daughter…but the way his sweetly sensual kisses are challenging her to risk everything she’s been guarding for so long?
This winter, if one—or both—of them aren’t careful, they just might end up falling in love.
*
Thank you to Rachael Herron and Mike “Pic” Picard, B Shift Battalion Captain, San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, for their help with the firefighting scenes.
A note from Bella
Firefighters are strong, courageous, and willing to take on the danger that everyone else runs away from. Even better, they also happen to be some of my favorite heroes in romance novels!
In CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE, Gabe can’t make the mistake of falling for another fire victim. Megan can’t love—and lose—another man with a dangerous job. They have every reason to stay apart. But they can’t help falling for each other.
Just like Megan, I couldn’t help but fall for my firefighting Sullivan. Especially when a little matchmaking in the form of a seven-year-old girl had me grinning like crazy whenever Summer appeared on the page.
I hope you really enjoy this sizzling romance…and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with Gabe, too.
Happy reading,
Bella Andre
p.s. If this is your first time reading about the Sullivans, you can easily read each book as a standalone, and there is a Sullivan family tree available on my website (www.bellaandre.link/TheSullivansFamilyTree) so you can see how the books connect together.
Chapter One
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in San Francisco. The air was cool, the sky was clear. Couples were walking hand in hand through Golden Gate Park, tourists were discovering the wonder of clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls at Fisherman’s Wharf and kite-surfers were out en masse in the bay, zigzagging around the yachts and sailboats with their bright sails.
Unfortunately, for the two dozen people who lived at 1280 Conrad Street, a fire had turned their perfect Saturday into a nightmare.
The fire trucks and firefighters arrived first, the news trucks close on their heels. To the casual observer, the fast-moving men in their turnouts who were yelling information and coordinates at one another, the radios that were turned up loud in their hands and the hoses that snaked across the road and the sidewalk looked like utter chaos. In truth, the men of Station 5 were a well-oiled machine.
Earlier that afternoon, firefighter Gabe Sullivan had been enjoying a fundraising concert his brother Marcus’s girlfriend, Nicola, had put on at the fire station. Everyone had been beside themselves with glee at the chance to pay big bucks to attend the very intimate acoustic concert with Nicola, who went by the name Nico when she performed. Her show had been amazing, as usual, and Gabe was still beyond impressed that his oldest brother had scored a woman like her. She wasn’t just beautiful and sexy, she didn’t just have amazing musical talent: She was really sweet, too.
Nicola had just come to the end of her third encore when the call had come in. Ten minutes later, the firefighters from Station 5 had arrived on scene, hooked up their hoses and began to evacuate the building and work to put out the fire.
Wearing his full turnouts, Gabe helped an elderly couple down the stairs of the old San Francisco apartment building and out onto the sidewalk. They looked to be in good health, but their nervousness about the fire was giving them trouble with the stairs. With a gentle hand on their elbows, he worked to keep their pace up so that he could get them completely out of the building and away from the fire as quickly as possible. They’d just made it to the sidewalk when the gray-haired man started coughing. Gabe steered them over to the ambulance parked a few feet behind the largest fire truck.
Gesturing for one of the paramedics to come over to them, he told the couple, “We’re going to get you checked out for smoke inhalation. If you have any questions about anything, make sure to—”
His words were cut off by an explosion of flames and smoke out a second-story window.
After ten years as a firefighter, Gabe knew no fire was ever routine. No flame ever played the same game. And sometimes the simplest call could turn into the most complicated. The most dangerous.
Over his radio Gabe could hear concern in the voice of his station captain. “Everyone out!” Todd barked to the crew. “This fire has accelerated. We’re switching to defensive operation. Repeat, evacuate the building.”
Gabe still had his hand on the elbow of the gray-haired woman, and she turned to him with a look of horror on her face.
“Megan and Summer are still inside. You have to get them out!”
He could tell from her rapid breathing and dilated eyes that the woman must be on the verge of going into shock, so he spoke to her in a clear, steady voice to make sure he got the information he needed.
“Who are Megan and Summer?”
“My neighbors, a mother and her little girl. I saw them go into their apartment a while ago.” The woman looked at the other tenants who were gathered around the fire trucks and watching—horrified—as their homes and possessions went up in flames. Flames that were raging more out of control by the second. “Megan and Summer aren’t out here.” She was clearly panicked and gripped his arm harder than her earlier frailty had suggested she was capable of. “You have to go back inside to save them. Please!”
Gabe wasn’t a firefighter who believed in superstition. He didn’t have a routine he lived and died by. But he did believe in his gut.
And his gut was telling him there was a problem. br />
A big one.
“Which apartment are they in?”
She pointed to the third-story windows with a shaking hand. “Number 31. They’re on the top floor, corner unit.” The woman looked terrified. The stress of the situation was clearly becoming too much for her.
“It will be all right,” her husband soothed her. “He’ll find Megan and Summer.” He was speaking to his wife, but his eyes held Gabe’s, along with the silent message: Don’t you dare let my wife down. She loves those girls like they are our own.
Seconds later, Gabe found both the captain and his partner, Eric, marshaling the crowd of people out on the sidewalk and street. Reporters were now swarming the street, only adding to the confusion.
“We’ve got to go back in. A neighbor just told me a mother and daughter could still be inside. Third floor, corner apartment.”
They all glanced up in the direction Gabe was pointing. All that could be seen was dark smoke billowing above the rooftop.
Todd looked from Gabe to the fire raging inside the building. “Make it quick, guys. You’ve probably got ten minutes, tops,” he said, and then turned and gave instructions to the rest of the crew to focus their fire-hose streams up toward the apartment.
In the same way that the loud boom from the explosion had rocked through the crowd, now a momentary hush fell over the assembled masses as Eric and Gabe moved in tandem to pull another hose into the building. Masks on, their earpieces activated, they moved up the stairs as quickly as they could through the smoke that hung thicker than the fog San Francisco was so famous for. With their breathing apparatus on, they were okay. But a civilian wouldn’t last long in these conditions without frequent hits of oxygen.
Forcefully pushing his fears for the mother and daughter aside, Gabe concentrated on moving from the first floor to the second, and then to the third. All the while the roar of the fire increased, and the heat notched up higher and hotter. A door on the second floor blew out and shook the landing.
Gabe and Eric dragged the heavy hose through the thick smoke and debris. Despite the steep, tight flight of stairs, and the immense physical challenges, they arrived at apartment 31 in a matter of minutes.