Publication date: November 9th, 2020
Synopsis:
Welcome to Kissing Creek, where everything has a romance-themed pun for a name and love is lurking around every corner...
Audrey Miller doesn't believe in happily-ever-after, so she is definitely living in the wrong town. But she's never getting out of Kissing Creek, because playing pseudo-mom for her younger siblings doesn't leave time for much else. She'll do anything to make sure they don't end up stuck like she is, working as a barista in a college town, serving Pink Passion mochas with Chocolate Smooch donuts.
Then Ronan Walsh, a new young professor and walking cliché, right down to the elbow patches on his blazer, steps in for a coffee and into her life. She knows his type--intelligent and charming, yet sweet as a cinnamon roll, the sort of man she's inevitably attracted to but is always out of her league. So why does someone like him have any interest in a worker bee with no future?
Her bland-as-oatmeal existence has nothing to offer, but Ronan's temporary teaching position is only a stepping stone on his way to somewhere else. He isn't here to put down roots, Audrey's roots are firmly planted--neither of them is looking for love. And maybe that's just perfect.
But in a small town called Kissing Creek, sometimes love can be impossible to avoid...
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Excerpt
Audrey felt like they were a pair of thieves in the night, walking quickly and quietly, the only sound they made was of quickening breath and the whisper of shoes over wet grass.
Was she really going to do this?
There was something about coming here with Ronan that felt... fraught. Why on earth would a man like him--a smart man with a future tinged with gold--want a going-nowhere small-town lifer like her?
Ronan might not know exactly what his future held, but it was full of possibility. Audrey, on the other hand, knew exactly what the next five years held for her. Beyond that, well... it wasn't like she'd be able to move to a big city, no matter how the lights shined in her fantasy.
Ronan pushed the door open and tugged her inside, sweeping his blue eyes down to hers for the briefest second. That one glance blanked any and all worries from her mind. Tonight wasn't about the future, it was about now.
The present. The glorious, decadent, rebellious present.
"You still with me?" he whispered in a husky tone as he closed the door softly behind her. His apartment was on the second floor, and they made their way up with careful footsteps.
"Of course."
"You're very quiet," he said, taking a step closer.
"So are you." She lowered her gaze. "I don't want to say something that might risk where this is going."
"Where do you want it to go, Audrey?"
"I hope it's going to the bedroom." She offered up a tentative smile, which bloomed into something more when she saw that Ronan was coming closer still, seemingly undeterred by her awkwardness. "Or maybe the couch... or a countertop somewhere. I'm open to suggestion."
"Really?" He was in front of her now, one hand coming up to brush a strand of hair from her cheek, curling it around her ear with such tenderness that it was a miracle she didn't melt on the spot. "I've always been a fan of up against a wall."
"Good suggestion." She nodded, her breath hitching when his lips came down to her neck and he slowly backed her up. "Although, not to be a stickler for details, but this is a door."
Ronan laughed and nipped at her neck. He braced one palm against the door and used his free hand to explore the hem of her camisole top. The brush of his knuckles as he toyed with the soft fabric sent a shower of energy through her. She felt like one of those sparklers they'd saved for Fourth of July, ready to light up the night.
"Sorry, I..." She gasped as his hand slid against her bare skin, finding its way under her top and up over the softness of her belly. "I never know what to say, especially with this stuff. I'm not... I'm not smooth."
"Smooth is overrated."
Stefanie London is a multi award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romances and romantic comedies.
Stefanie's books have been called "genuinely entertaining and memorable" by Booklist, and "Elegant, descriptive and delectable" by RT magazine. Her stories have won multiple industry awards, including the HOLT Medallion and OKRWA National Reader's Choice Award, and she has been nominated for the Romance Writers of America RITA award.
Originally from Australia, Stefanie now lives in Toronto with her very own hero and is currently in the process of doing her best to travel the world. She frequently indulges in her passions for good coffee, lipstick, romance novels and anything zombie-related.
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