Stand-Alones: Contemporary Romances
All the love with none of the series!*
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*Except in the case of Rose & Thorn and Summit Springs books! Check out the other books in these shared worlds!
High Spirits
A Summit Springs Novel
Cover by Alexandria Corza
Dara Alvarez escaped Summit Springs a decade ago with a plan to see the world. But when her recently widowed sister asks her to come home and help with her troubled nephew, she knows it's the right thing to do. Good thing bar tending pays as well in Colorado as it did in the tourist traps of Paris and Prague.
Lillie McClintock can't wait to escape the usual rich-kid ski path and spend her winter searching for ghosts in the charming mountain town of Summit Springs. She doesn't expect to be more interested in the Silver Nugget's gorgeous bartender than the spirits haunting its atmospheric halls.
Dara has a sore spot when it comes to the dead. Lillie's on the run from a life that left her empty. Maybe they can help each other. Or maybe they'll never speak again.
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Heart Space
Niamh Hunter has a teeny, tiny problem. If hosting the first ever Heartcore Yoga Retreat at her Summit Springs studio is about opening as many hearts and minds as possible, well, she’s got plenty to open–because sign-ups are out of control. Maybe she should have capped attendance. Or rented a bigger space. Or researched event organizing before, you know, organizing an event. But an open heart and positive attitude have gotten Niamh this far in life. Surely they’ll get her through what might end up being the Fyre Festival of yoga retreats.
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Visiting marketing consultant Jordan Kowalczyk owes a friend a favor, which is why she agrees to a consultation with Niamh. But Niamh’s situation is way above Jordan’s paygrade. Maybe Niamh thinks she’s being cute with her scatterbrained, crunchy-granola approach to life. With her smelly–but always well-dressed–bulldog, Beau Brummell. With her…okay, she is kind of cute. But Jordan doesn’t want her chakras opened, thanks. Besides, Jordan’s not an event planner, and marketing this retreat is the one thing Niamh’s done well. Way, way too well.
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With mere weeks until the retreat, Jordan agrees against her better judgment to assist. What she doesn’t count on is developing feelings for Niamh. As she helps Niamh buckle down, she finds herself opening up–and discovers what’s been missing from her life for too long. But when Jordan’s family threatens her new relationship, she must decide whether to leave Summit Springs in the rearview mirror, or whether she and Niamh have built something worth fighting for.
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Yes, Today
Part of the "Heart-Shaped" Collection from JMS Books
Anjali always thought anxiety was her worst enemy. She's got a decent handle on it, but it makes social situations—especially social situations with cute girls—awkward as hell. She first noticed Maeve in a college class, and since, she hasn't been get the adorable punk girl with the heart-shaped backpack out of her head. Especially since the backpack invited onlookers to "F Off". When Anjali sees Maeve again post-graduation at a coffee shop, they finally start up a conversation. Things get romantic over Thai food and at the Renn Faire.
But for once, anxiety might not be Anjali's worst enemy. Maeve's coworker seems bent on making things difficult for reasons of her own. Anjali has to find a way to deal with uncomfortable situations on her own terms if she wants to hang onto the cute girl.
Poor Little Rich Boy
From JMS Books
Ted MacTaggart's overbearing father is still trying to control his life, even from the grave. His will insists that, in order to inherit the family company, MAC Superior, Ted must be married by his twenty-fifth birthday -- and the marriage has to be "real." As in the board of MAC has to sign off on it.
Ted could fight the will, but then the handsome, artistic Ryan Costa, an old friend from school days walks back into his life, offering to be his groom-of-convenience. Ted draws up the contracts and Ryan, who has family medical bill problems, agrees gladly to the terms. Ted, emotionally walled off and afraid of his attraction to Ryan, also suggests they should keep their relationship strictly professional. Caring for people has always proven a weakness for him. Now isn't the time to start.
It's not long before Ryan's charm breaks through Ted's walls, but Ted isn't his own worst enemy in this case. Other forces are vying for MAC Superior, and even when their relationship is becoming the real deal, its shaky foundations land Ryan and Ted in trouble.
The Rise of Virginie
Cover by Natasha Snow
Stefan Holt left home at nineteen, guitar in hand, determined that couch-surfing would be better than staying with his mother. He finally lands with Megan, an old band-mate, and they decide to resurrect their rock n’ roll dreams to get them out of their opioid-riddled small town. Unfortunately, neither of them is much of a lyricist.
Han Westfall works at the local library, where he lives to rec poetry to the handsome, mysterious guy who brings in his guitar and stays all day. Han writes lines of his own, and when Stefan finally asks to see them, their musical chemistry clicks—and it brings them closer, faster than either of them imagined possible. They name their new band Virginie, ostensibly in honor of their Appalachian roots.
They’ll have to work through band in-fighting, revenge porn, homophobic taunts, family addictions, parental drama, and their own inner demons to make things work, both in love and in music. But if they can make it, maybe they won’t just get out of town. Maybe they’ll rise up and take everyone with them.
Content Warnings: addiction, homelessness, death (not mc), opioid epidemic, abuse (past), homophobia, alcohol and marijuana use.
All profit from this book goes to help individuals and families fighting addiction in WV.
Touch Up
Fame is a bitch...
Last year, twenty-three-year-old actress Dina Gilbert snagged the lead in the summer’s biggest blockbuster. It wasn’t easy: she’s black, openly queer, and has actual curves she refuses to let people Photoshop. Now, overwhelmed by sudden fame and homesick for Georgia, she’s becoming someone she doesn’t recognize. Maybe that’s why she’s out partying her face off most nights.
Enter Colleen Thomas, an ex-model turned photo editor whose issues with her own body are only surpassed by her issues with other peoples’. Colleen knows the rules but Photoshops Dina’s magazine cover anyway, incurring the wrath of Dina and her fans. And, okay, maybe that cover image was unbelievably sexy even before Colleen’s alterations. So what? Dina’s not fooling anyone with that girl-next-door, I-eat-Snickers-in-my-Golden-Globes-dress BS. Colleen knows a train wreck when she sees one.
Tensions rise even more when Colleen and Dina have to work together at the Rose Social Club’s annual charity gala. When they realize they have something in common, no one is more surprised than they are. The sexual chemistry doesn’t hurt either. Their differences could either be a source of strength—a life raft in the heaving waters of Hollywood—or the makings of a titanic crash.