Contemporary Romance books

Welcome to the Cardinal Christmas Market, an exclusive holiday experience where the offerings are as unique and quirky as the people and town who run it. 

Douglas is a first-time vendor, and he's determined to make a splash and grow from there. A mix-up means he has no choice but to share a booth with Boyd, one of Cardinal's own.

Douglas and Boyd don’t like each other’s style... or one another. But in the ensuing weeks working the booth, with help from a little Cardinal Christmas Market magic, they find their art, world views, personalities, and passions are complementary—even compatible. Can they get past feeling like the coal in each other's stockings to a sweet happy ending, or are they destined to be holiday humbugs?

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Workaholic investment banker Timothy Wyatt is determined to spend the first Christmas since his divorce with his four-year-old daughter, Megan. Fate—in the form of the largest winter storm system in a decade—seems determined to thwart him. When his flight from Dallas to Chicago is canceled, along with every other flight for at least the next two days, Tim is willing to try any alternative means of transportation to keep from disappointing his daughter yet again. 

Luckily for Tim, he’s befriended by Zach Whelan, another stranded traveler. Zach is a travel agent, and since he was only planning a solo vacation in Mexico over the holidays, he makes it his mission to get Tim to his daughter in time for Christmas instead. They have three days—how hard can it be?

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When Wil Buchanan walks into the yarn shop in his hometown of Asheville, he isn’t expecting anything other than to get an heirloom bedspread repaired as a Christmas present for his mother. He certainly doesn’t expect the owner to be his age, single, and attractive. The only problem? Wil’s life is in San Francisco… and he left Asheville behind for a reason. But the more time he spends in the city—and with Travis—the more he realizes it’s not the city he remembers, and he’s not the boy he once was.

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Cassidy Hancock hates being late—he’s pathological about it. Until the crisp fall morning when he pauses to watch his neighbor’s handsome son chase his dog down the sidewalk… and gets hit by a tree.

Mark Taylor sees the whole thing, and as a second-year medical resident, he gets Cassidy top-notch care. In spite of himself, he’s fascinated by his mother’s stodgy neighbor, and as he strives to help Cassidy recover from a broken leg, he begins to realize that behind Cassidy’s obsession with punctuality is the story of a lonely boy who thought he had to be perfect to be loved.

Mark and his family are far from perfect—but they might be perfect for Cassidy. As the two of them get to know each other, Cassidy fantasizes about the family and happy-ever-after he never thought he’d have, and Mark starts to yearn for Cassidy’s wide-eyed kindness and surprising creativity. But first they have to overcome Cassidy’s fears, because there is so much more fun to be had during Christmas than just being on time.

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Come the New Year, Luca Vocci is reluctantly headed to LA to start a new life he isn't sure he wants, far away from his beloved New York City and the lights of Broadway. Until then, he’s directionless, without his spark or any idea what to do next—so, with the holiday season upon him, Luca agrees to do a favor for an old friend and his high-school theater class.

Everything goes according to plan until a snowstorm traps Luca in a house with six rather dramatic teenagers, two chaperones with relationship problems, and three unexpected guests. For Luca, the house is full of memories—and now, music. Maybe the spark he’s looking for is hiding in plain sight.

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Sequel to Bad to Be Worthy
Bad to Be Good: Book Three

For glass artist Ashton Weller, Longboat Key seems like the perfect place to start over. It’s warm, sunny, and far from the dangerous ex he left behind in Chicago, even if his glass studio does get even more uncomfortable in the Florida heat. It’s also home to Terrance Manetti, a man who turns into Ashton’s inadvertent hero when he saves him from some unsavory types at a local restaurant… and may turn into more than that.

Former mobster Terrance has been in Witness Protection with his "brothers" ever since they turned state’s evidence against their former employer. His brothers have a different life here, filled with family and small-time, honest jobs, and Terrance doesn’t know whether to be jealous or derisive.

Not until he meets Ashton, anyway. With Ashton, Terrance could build the kind of life he’s never dared to want—the kind of life where he won’t need the skills he learned in organized crime. Or so he thinks—until Ashton’s past comes looking for him….

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It’s never too late to try something new.

After a year of mourning, it’s time for Nolan Hamlin to live again. But finding a new place in the world doesn’t happen easily.

Already famous as a designer, Nolan is a shoo-in for a new Restoration Channel show host. The brief is simple—help people who’ve gotten in over their heads with their fixer-uppers—but the costar situation is anything but.

For up-and-coming interior decorator Grayson Woods, working with a veteran like Nolan is a dream come true. For one, he’s young and this could make his career. For two, he’s had a crush on Nolan forever. But while Grayson has plenty of life experience, his résumé doesn’t hold up to Nolan’s. He hopes he can keep up.

Despite clashing design aesthetics and a fifteen-year age difference, Grayson manages to charm Nolan. With the show keeping them in close proximity, it’s only a matter of time before they give in to their growing attraction. It isn’t the life Nolan thought he wanted—but when that life comes calling, he has to make a choice. Is there room in his future and his home for a guy like Grayson?

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When Jeff Pine rents a cabin in the hometown he’s been avoiding for fifteen years, he just wants some time away from his rock 'n roll world to figure out his life. Instead he runs into his former BFF—and the inspiration for dozens of love songs—on the first day.

Facepalm.

Park naturalist Carter Rhodes is a cinnamon roll dressed like a lumberjack. Fame and fortune don’t turn his head, but the snarky little nerd who followed him around as a kid? The guy who makes him laugh when he’s grieving and relax when he overextends himself? Not the rock star, but Jeff? That guy has a chance.

Jeff has always known Carter is it for him, but he’s facing a tour with increasingly hostile bandmates, a looming album deadline, and the suspicion that their label is up to no good. Can he find the courage—and the time—to write a true love song with Carter?

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Apart from his drug addiction, his homophobic father, and his denial of his sexuality, Ben O’Connor lives a charmed life. He has a wonderful son, a lucrative job as a Realtor, and a supportive mother and siblings. Then his boss promotes someone else over him and his life disintegrates. In his anger, he breaks the eleventh commandment—thou shalt not get caught.

Kicking his ice habit while incarcerated, Ben realizes he has lost his ability to enjoy life. But he gets another chance at Thailand’s Resort Jomtien, where he takes part in an experimental program aimed at preventing relapses among recovering addicts. There he meets Matt Wilson, a gay man from Sydney who’s facing the same struggle. Ben and Matt form a strong bond as they rediscover joy and learn strategies to cope with the lure of their addictions.

Ben invites the adrift Matt home with him after treatment and finds he fits perfectly into Ben’s family. But will Ben recognize that his feelings for Matt go beyond the platonic before Matt’s doubts—and a worldwide pandemic—separate them forever?

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When efficiency consultant Graden Baxter gets stranded at the Las Vegas airport, of course he starts to book another flight… until curt demands and disappointing news from his boss finally best his practical nature. If tireless dedication to the job only leads to being taken for granted, maybe he should reevaluate his life.

A cross-country drive to New York City with fellow stranded traveler Cole Carmichael presents the perfect opportunity. He can have a little adventure but still make it home in a long weekend.

Professional nomad Cole has other ideas for getting there, but the tension building between them isn’t all down to Graden’s overplanning and Cole’s inconsiderate spontaneity. As they navigate the Southwest, exploring parks and endless starry skies, they begin to see themselves less as opposite and more as complementary.

Unfortunately, adventures have to end—and theirs ends with Graden back at a thankless job, Cole solitary and rootless.

Except that peculiar road-trip alchemy means they aren’t the same men who embarked on the trip. Can they find their way together, even if it means going off the map?

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Search and Rescue: Book Four

Search-and-rescue worker Spencer Helmsley has everything he needs: a job he loves, a flight partner he’d die for, and an amazing dog.

Then he flings himself out of a helicopter to rescue Theo Wainscott.

Stuck on a raft in the middle of a flood with the most stubborn, argumentative man in the world, Spencer soon finds himself asking not how they’ll survive but what’ll kill them first—the water, each other… or the sexual tension.

While Theo and Spencer are trying to beat the odds, Theo is also trying to beat some sense into his rescuer. Spencer seems to have no regard for his own safety, and that’s a problem for Theo. Maybe he’s never seen another gay man in the wild, but it doesn’t take him long to recognize that he’d like to get to know this one better.

If they make it out alive, Theo will have his work cut out for him convincing Spencer to risk his heart instead of his life….

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