A Second Chance for Love
With Mother’s Day approaching, four women, best friends, living in a picturesque coastal town discover a second chance at love when they finally find their happily-ever-after partners in this anthology of contemporary romance novellas.
Mom Wanted by Anna J. Stewart
Claire Bishop’s life as an art teacher in Sea Glass Bay is full and rewarding, but her heart longs for a family she’ll never have. When she agrees to help out widower, Sully Vaughn, by taking care of his daughter after school, Sully is concerned his little girl, Lindie, is growing too attached to her favorite teacher. Sully is trying his best to protect his child from the heartache of loss that nearly destroyed him, but he hasn’t taken into account his passion for the dynamic woman—nor Lindie’s determination to lay claim to the perfect mom.
Father Wanted by Kayla Perrin
Jazzy Dunbar is enjoying life as a single mom, proving that you don’t have to have a man to have it all. Jeremiah Caldwell, a good friend, made the perfect sperm donor. He’s happy with their “no strings attached” relationship ... or is he? He wants to be more than a sometimes-father in baby Caleb’s life. Jazzy doesn’t want to ruin their friendship by allowing their attraction to flare, but when a serious situation threatens, will Jeremiah be able to prove that they can have love and the perfect family?
Hero Wanted by Melinda Curtis
Single mom Leah Martin needs to find a wedding date for her ex-husband’s wedding. Their son, Owen, is going to be the ringbearer and her attendance is required. But this florist has no time to date around the busy Mother’s Day holiday, which is why she agrees to let her friends set her up for a blind date. Hank DeLeon’s bar shares an alley with Leah’s florist shop, which is the perfect location for a restaurant if she’s willing to relocate. When he’s asked to take her on a blind date, he has to wonder: is this a great chance for a business proposition? Or a once-in-a-lifetime chance at love?
Family Wanted by Cari Lynn Webb
After a corporate restructuring at her accounting firm, Paige Duffy moved north to Sea Glass Bay and opened a handmade candle booth at the coastal town’s popular local craft market. Now her severance is running out and Paige discovers she’s pregnant from a one night stand. Charter boat owner, Gavin Cole, lost his grandfather six months ago, promising him he’d finally pursue his dreams of sailing the open ocean. But when Paige tells him that she’s pregnant with his child, Gavin must decide what adventure he really wants: the one he’s always dreamed of, or the one he never believed possible.
Except from Hero Wanted:
“Worst idea ever,” Leah mumbled to herself from her seat in Rigatoni’s. Every time the restaurant door opened, Leah smiled and sat up straighter, expecting her blind date.
The flowered, blue jersey sheath she’d chosen to wear with a white sweater was increasingly feeling like it was too casual for the white tablecloth establishment. It was now six-fifteen, her back was beginning to ache, and it was looking more likely that Claire had been unable to find Leah a date.
She got out her cell phone and texted Claire: My date is late.
Claire immediately replied: But he’s worth the wait. She added a smiling emoji holding a rose between his teeth.
Okay. So at least she wasn’t being stood up. She hoped.
“Excuse me.” A deep voice. A big hand dragging a chair back. A tall man.
Leah’s eyes kept going up. Over the black button-down shirt that covered broad shoulders. Over the black goatee, the straight nose, short black hair, and cool dark eyes that were just as unabashedly assessing her. He was one of the DeLeon brothers who ran Tank’s Bar & Grill. But which one? Him not being a native of Sea Glass Bay and she not being nosy, Leah didn’t know. What would Marisol say if she knew Leah was on a date with one of her sons? Leah didn’t know.
She squared her shoulders, wondered if she’d bitten her lipstick off, and flashed her DeLeon date a smile, along with the daisy. “Did Claire send you?”
He nodded, sitting down and leaning back in his chair as if he needed distance to assess her. “I’m Hank.” Hank. Henry, as his mother called him. He was the oldest DeLeon and the owner of Tank’s.
Leah introduced herself. She couldn’t stop staring at Hank because he wasn’t exactly what she’d ordered. Sexiness exuded from every pore, but it wasn’t a turn-off. At least, not on her part. Hank was the kind of suave, arrogant man who’d never date her for real. Hank would date women who carried name brand accessories, had regular manicures, and put sophisticated highlights in their hair. They’d be high maintenance, but he wouldn’t put much effort toward maintaining them. Why should he? Rumor had it that women hung out at the bar for a chance to date a DeLeon man.
Was it a rumor? Hank’s presence here seemed to indicate it was.
Best get down to business first, in case Hank wasn’t going to go along with the wedding date idea. “I don’t know how much Claire told you, but—”
“We’ll start with drinks.” Hank signaled their waiter. “I’ll have a glass of your best Cabernet. And the lady…” His cool gaze sent hot waves over Leah. “She’ll have a Moscato.”
“Too sweet.” Leah grimaced. “I’ll have the Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.” This blind date thing wasn’t going to go well.
The Story Behind the Story
This anthology collection is the first second entry by Arc Manor’s Caezik Romance imprint. When they invited me to write for them again, I suggested we create a small town and write about four friends. The result was Sea Glass Bay, a small town in remote Northern California.
I love that Arc Manor appreciates my humor. I had a lot of fun creating a situation where my heroine needs a date for her ex-husband’s wedding and her friends each set her up with a blind date, but it’s always Hank (unbeknownst to all of them).
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