The Hot Girl's Friend

A windy day...a flyaway signboard...a hideous crunch. Sophie Calhoun can't imagine how she'll pay for the damage to the luxurious car.

Already cash-strapped, she's struggling to launch her new interior design studio and make a home for her daughter. She's only days away from disaster.

Out of the sleek black Jaguar storms super-yacht tycoon Rafe Severino. Steaming mad. Totally gorgeous. And desperately in need of a top-line decorator for his spectacular new harbor-side mansion.

Sophie fears her dream contract comes with strings that tie her to the boat-builder's bed. No matter how she tries to escape, he's always there—implacable and irresistible.

She knows he doesn't want a preoccupied single mother, but concealing her daughter's existence from the man she's falling in love with is getting harder and harder. If he discovers her lies, she'll instantly lose everything.

Warning: contains one determined golden-skinned man who knows his way around boats, bodies and bed-sheets.

***Excerpt***

She eyed the small cable car with trepidation. Its walls were only hip-high and there were very thin looking sheet-metal doors on the sides. No seats, no roof, just a high post in each corner. Rafe rattled a door open, stepped on board, and drew her toward him.

“Don’t worry. It’s safe.”

“I’m not scared,” she muttered, willing herself to believe that a flimsy box plunging almost vertically down a steel rail was not in the least hazardous. “I’ve seen nicer ones.”

“It’s only for the construction work at this stage. The proper weatherproof cab with seats isn’t far off.”

She nodded at that, imagining how many loads of timber and fittings must have traveled up and down this way.

As though reading her mind Rafe said, “We used a chopper for the big stuff. A tough job for the pilot—there are tricky updrafts off the sea.” He crowded her against one of the corner posts and slid an arm around her waist before he pushed a green button and sent them whirring downwards.

Sophie was grateful for the arm, not that she’d admit it. She grasped the post and tried to ease away from his too-close chest. His grip was inescapable. She was trapped there, head tucked under his chin, far too aware of his body as they dropped toward the huge expanse of slatted timber. His heart beat steadily in her ear. His cologne displaced the ocean’s salty fragrance. Then she heard a rumble of laughter deep in his chest.

“Stop struggling.”

“I’m not.” She could feel her face heating with a telltale blush.

“Could have fooled me.”

“You’ve probably done this dozens of times.”

“Hundreds. It’s not far. It’s perfectly safe.”

But I’m not, she thought as flickers of sensation rampaged low in her belly. She felt so sexy. So deliciously damp and strangely swollen.

For heaven’s sake stop it, she begged her twitching flesh. Okay, he’s gorgeous. But he’s a possible client. Keep it that way and you’ll get Camille back sooner.

(Better Date than Never series, Book #3)

It’s Valentine’s Day and Rachel Price has a choice: Stay home and watch TV with her loveable doggy or let her best friend, Ellen, set her up on a blind date. What to do….

Ellen says the guy is a “10,” but the last guy she set her up with was a “–5.” Rachel’s been flirting with coworker Noah Peterson and she’s hoping he’s noticed. Then, she finds out Noah has big plans. Even worse, he advises Rachel to go on the blind date!

Should she play it safe and spend the Hallmark holiday with her loyal pooch, Chester, or risk another dating disaster by trying yet again for love?

Can one drunken phone call lead to love?

Amy Martin, in a rare moment of recklessness does the last thing expected of her, she asks for help. When she leaves a message on, her best friend, Kaye's answerphone she doesn't expect to see Kaye's brother Dominic on her doorstep half an hour later.

She would never have called them friends, but times have changed and they're not children anymore.

When Dominic Shaw hears Marty, saying she "needs" Kaye, he can't believe it. Marty has never needed anyone in all the years he's known her. When he arrives to find a drunken mess, he's even more concerned, what is so bad to have brought "Miss Dependable" to this, and why has he never noticed those beautiful jade eyes before?

Can fifteen years of apathy really turn to love, or will Marty learn the price of perfection is too high to pay?

A Laurel Heights Novel, Book 2

When Treat Byrnes walks into her bookstore café, Eve Alexander wants to eat him up. Bad boy isn't her usual flavor, but for the sexy contractor, she's willing to take a walk on the wild side.

Treat meets Eve on a reconnaissance mission for his mother, who owns a neighboring teashop, but he keeps going back to Eve for her sweet smile and sassy shoes. He has a history of falling for damsels-in-distress, but Eve doesn't need rescuing. Not even when her cafe is sabotaged.

But when Treat finds out the saboteur is his own mother, he knows he has to do something before things go too far.

The rest of Kate Perry's fun, sexy Laurel Heights series is available now:
Book 1: PERFECT FOR YOU
Book 2: CLOSE TO YOU
Book 3: RETURN TO YOU
Book 4: LOOKING FOR YOU
Book 5: DREAM OF YOU
Book 6: SWEET ON YOU

Fans of Bella Andre, Rachel Gibson, and Kristan Higgins will love this quirky romance series with strong, independent woman and sexy alpha heroes.

REVIEWS:
"Perry's storytelling skills just keep getting better and better!" -Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Can't wait for the next in this series...simply great reading. Another winner by this amazing author." -Romance Reviews Magazine

"Hot! Recommended!" -Bookpleasures

"Exciting and simply terrific." -Romancereviews.com

"Kate Perry is on my auto buy list." -Night Owl Romance

"A winning and entertaining combination of humor and pathos." –Booklist

A medical condition has left dentist Junior Atkinson with only a few more fertile months despite her tender age of twenty-eight. Junior barely has time to digest this news when she finds hunky travel writer Griff Ross in her chair with a hell of a toothache. Could he be the baby-daddy she needs?

Dear Mr. Lonely....Mandy Clayton never answered personal ads, but this was one she couldn't resist and now she was falling for a guy she'd never met.
Adam Gray was not interested in a mail-order romance, but he was willing to write some love letters for his friend. Then he had to go "check out" the bride to be. Off he went on an undercover job at Mandy's Bed and Breakfast in a small California beach town. Adam was a good guy who always played by the rules, but one look at Mandy and he couldn't help it - he wanted her for himself! He wasn't there to romance his best friend's fiancee. He knew that. It would be wrong... He knew that too.

SHE WAS HIS SAVIOR

Banished from London for her reckless behavior, Lady Miranda Sinclair is robbed by a dashing highwayman en route to the country. By offering him a kiss in lieu of the jewels she had to leave behind, she commits the very type of act that caused her exile. When her dour guardians extend her punishment to performing charitable work at the local orphanage, she’s further tempted by the home’s owner, a provincial gentleman who stirs her passion in a most wicked way.

HE WAS HER DOWNFALL

Desperate to save his orphanage from financial catastrophe, Montgomery "Fox" Foxcroft leads a double life as a highwayman. The arrival of wealthy, well-connected Miranda, whose kiss he can’t forget, presents a lawful opportunity to increase his coffers. His problems seem solved—until she rejects his suit. Out of options and falling for the heiress, Fox must risk what principles he has left and take advantage of her wicked ways—even if it ruins them both.

"She's Hot Now" (9,000 words) is short story #2 from the collection Beach Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories. These are fun, sweet, and sassy love stories set on Cape Cod. Perfect to squeeze into your busy life. Discover the loose thread that connects the stories and ties up in a perfect, happy ending.

Each short story is 9,000-12,000 words in length. The entire collection is 52,000 words long. Stories include:

"Ex On The Beach"

She’s trying to forget the fiancé who cancelled their wedding—until she sees her ex on the beach.

Heather should be celebrating her first wedding anniversary instead of the first annual Parker Family Reunion. Then she sees her ex on the beach—and he wants her back. Now, their two families will stop at nothing to get them together. But is it too late for love?

10,000 words.

"She’s Hot Now"

She never used to get a second look; now Natalie’s the hottie on the beach. Can she handle the heat?

After a big weight loss, everyone’s checking out Natalie. She’s not comfortable being the center of attention, especially not around her friend’s gorgeous boyfriend and his pals. But one special guy might just prove looks aren’t everything--even when you do look good.

9,000 words.

"Girls Just Wanna Have Finn"

It’s girls' week at the beach--until the hottie from high school shows up. So who gets Finn?

When Anna and her gal pals spot a hunk on the beach, she learns he’s a womanizer who hooked up with all her friends back in high school. Now he’s after her. Is he a changed man, or is he still a dog on the prowl?

10,000 words.

"Washed Up"

When she saves her dream guy at the beach, he wants something more….

Molly saves a guy washed up on the beach, and discovers he’s the heartthrob from her youth—actor Michael Sullivan. The press makes it look like a blossoming summer romance, and Michael wants Molly to play along. Do happy endings only happen in the movies?

12,000 words.

"Hot for Summer"

The beach goddesses are after the most eligible bachelor on the shore. So why is he hot for Summer?

After losing her job, her guy, and her apartment all in one week, Summer needs a break at her friend’s beach house. But her biggest problem isn’t the snobby beach babes who ignore her, or the old diner she’s trying to save--it's a tall, gorgeous man who has no business being interested in her. Will it be a summer to remember?

9,000 words.

Beach Flirts! Hot fun in the summer sun…get yours now! Check out the first collection, Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories, Holiday Flirts! and Fairy Tale Flirts! Look for Wedding Flirts! in spring 2012.

Known for page-turning romantic novels that keep you reading late into the night, Diana Dempsey delivers a suspenseful tale about a man and a woman who must shed the past to embrace the future …

Annette Rowell’s latest novel is leapfrogging up the bestseller lists, and with every surge in sales she’s becoming more of a household name. The literary success she’s struggled so hard for would be a dream come true were it not for the killer preying on bestselling authors.

Reid Gardner hosts a syndicated crime show dedicated to capturing the most dangerous fugitives. The former LAPD cop knows only too well how violence can shatter lives. No victim arouses his ardor more than the pretty brunette author who’s become the target of a psychopath. Yet falling in love with her could cost him not only the reputation he’s spent years building, but the one killer who forever eludes him …

Diana Dempsey’s novels have been called “almost impossible to put down” (Romance Reviews Today), “skillfully plotted and filled with realistic detail” (Library Journal), and “spicy, sexy, and sultry” (Booklist). Her first novel was nominated for a RITA award for Best First Book by the Romance Writers of America; another was a Top Pick of Romantic Times; and a third was a selection of the Doubleday Book Club.