Cheryl's Book Nook

  I’m the fool who accidentally entered a stripping contest, thinking I was signing up for karaoke. Even worse? My best friend’s older brother was there to witness every minute of my humiliation. I run a romance bookstore, but I never expected to be the heroine of my own drama-filled love story. After Rafe saved me while simultaneously telling me off, I panicked and pretended the shameful disaster was research for a book I was writing. Yes, that was a huge exaggeration. But I’m paying for it now. Because he’s decided I need help! He’s volunteered for the nonexistent role of my bossy bodyguard, and he keeps showing up everywhere I go, including my dates. The truth is, I’ve had a crush on him since the day I turned eighteen, when he gave me my first kiss. Back then, when I thought the kiss meant something, a grumpy Rafe made it clear I was off-limits. I was too young, and he had no interest in dating his little sister’s best friend. When a local TV network casts me in a fall dating s...

  “You’re invited to the wedding of the summer. We hope you can join us. Mia, it’s a pity you don’t have a date.” After receiving that rude invite, I did something wildly unhinged. I suggested to my best friend, Luke (yes, Rex’s brother) that we should go to the wedding together and pretend we’d been secretly dating for a year. After receiving that rude invite from my childhood crush Rex, I did something wildly unhinged. I suggested to my best friend, Luke (Rex’s brother), that we should go to the wedding together and pretend we’d been secretly dating for a year. The rules were simple: Pretend we were soulmates, written in the stars. No crossing physical lines (I was dumb). Break up immediately after the wedding. As you can guess, the plan derailed as soon as Luke arrived back in town. Maybe it was being forced to share a luxury hotel room, or the game of Twister on the beach, or the strip poker we had too much fun playing, but the lines blurred almost immediately. Whatever it was,...