BEST FRIENDS
Lonny Reed and Samantha Janek became best friends in college. She was a chubby, insecure scholarship student who harbored a secret crush on him, but he loved her only as the closest, most trustworthy friend he’d ever had—a buddy who’d offer a sympathetic ear as he fell in and out of love with breathtaking frequency. Although she adored Lonny, Sammy knew that his lovers were always temporary. Friendship was forever, and she wanted forever with him.
Still best friends years after college, Lonny invites Sammy to stay with him at his fixer-upper beach house while she recuperates from being dumped by her longtime boyfriend. He’ll introduce her to friends, set her up on blind dates, get her back on her feet. The only problem is, she’s no longer a chubby, insecure scholarship student. She’s smart, accomplished and beautiful. And all of a sudden, Lonny wants to be more than friends.
With Lonny, lovers don’t last. Samantha knows that becoming his lover means risking the loss of his friendship. Can they be friends—and lovers—forever?
ONE GOOD TURN
When Luke met Jenny, he was lost and struggling. Her optimism, trust and love gave him the courage to face his demons and slay them. Then she vanished from his life. Seven years later, she reappears—only she’s not the same cheerful idealist he’d fallen in love with. Can he rescue her the way she’d rescued him? Can he give her the strength to slay her own demons?
CHANGE OF LIFE
Lila Chapin feels invisible. A devoted wife and mother of two, she sacrificed her career as her husband’s job moved the family around the country. Now he’s swiftly climbing the corporate ladder while she takes care of him and their sons. She’s appreciated at the soup kitchen where she volunteers, but at home she’s taken for granted. She realizes just how true this is when her husband and children forget her fortieth birthday.
She withdraws a chunk of money from the bank and takes off. This will be her birthday present to herself: a month without her family, a month in which she puts herself, her needs and her whims first.
Ken Chapin loves his wife. Yes, he’s been neglecting her lately as he vies for a senior position at the high-tech firm where he works, but he’s always assumed they were a team, working side by side to make their family happy. Yet what kind of team is it when Ken gets all the glory and Lila does all the vacuuming? Her disappearance forces him to reconsider the direction their lives have taken and just how much he needs her. But has his insight arrived too late to save their marriage?
CRY UNCLE
With a hit man after her, Seattle architect Pamela Hayes needs to hide, and she runs as far as she can: to steamy Key West., Florida. Jonas Brenner, a local bar owner, is about to lose custody of his orphaned five-year-old niece—unless he can convince the courts that he’s a responsible father. What he needs is a prim and proper wife who will create the illusion that his niece is being raised in a stable environment. What Pam needs is a new identity. Joe offers her a deal: if she marries him and takes his name, no Pacific Northwest hit man is going to find her. In return, she can pose as Joe’s respectable wife, dutifully caring for his wild-child niece. Of course, this will be a marriage in name only. No sex. No emotions. No love. Which, once Pam and Joe move in together and the sparks begin to fly, is easier said than done.
“When a classy architect joins in a marriage of convenience with a slightly scruffy bartender to hide from a hit man out to kill her, frustration runs high, making both want to CRY UNCLE and get on with the loving. Judith Arnold is a perennial favorite whose keen wit and way with mystery always hits the mark.****½”—RT Book Reviews
HOLDING HANDS
Meredith Fischer’s widowed mother is starting a new romance. Her daughter is enjoying an exuberant social life. But Meredith’s marriage is comatose and barely breathing. She still loves her sexy husband, but he doesn’t see her, doesn’t hear her, and may be involved with one of the cute young students at the college where he teaches. She can either pull the plug on her marriage or try to revive it, a hard choice to make when her insecurities, a fickle Mother Nature and a dog stand in her way.
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