For the Love of English by A.M. Hargrove
Release Date: September 15^th, 2016

Synopsis:

From USA Today Bestselling Author, A.M. Hargrove, comes a New Adult, Single Dad, Sexy, Stand Alone Romance.

Single dad, Beckley Bridges, is sexy as hell.
No, really, he’s the hottest thing since the sun was created.
Honest to God, crack an egg on him and the thing will sizzle.
So what’s the problem?
He’s also a gigantic jerk.
I hate the bastard.
I try to avoid him at all costs.
But for some reason, everywhere I go he seems to show up.

Only the real issue is his daughter, English.
She’s an adorable quirky first-grader who’s the sweetest thing since iced tea.
And she’s one of my students but also the love of his life.
So I have to deal with him on a professional level.
It’s not easy.
On a scale of easy to hard, dealing with Beckley Bridges is like nails screeching across a blackboard.

But when English’s mother tries to gain custody after abandoning her on Beckley’s doorstep as an infant, he’ll do anything possible to keep English under his roof.

That’s how he ends up propositioning me.

And crazy as it sounds?

I find myself considering it.

This is a full-length novel that includes mature content not suitable younger readers.

Excerpt:

I thrum my fingers on the table. “I have to think about this. I mean, we haven’t even kissed, and we’re discussing marriage. What if I don’t like the way you—” my eyes bulge at the thought of what I was going to say.

A cocky grin appears. Damn him. Why does he have to be so confident? “Like the way I what?” he asks. He knows damn well what I was referring to.

“Never mind.”

“No, I want to know.”

I squiggle around in my seat.

“Does it have anything to do with fucking hard and fast?” he asks, emphasizing the last words and still smiling smugly.

My jaw nearly slams on the table.

“Sheridan, I don’t think you have anything to worry about in that regard.”

My wine glass beckons, so I grab it and chug down the contents.

“Care for some more?” he asks as he waggles his brows.

I can’t answer him, so he pours me a glass anyway. The dog. Then he leans forward and draws a circle on the top of my hand. That circle has a direct path to my girly bits, and it’s not fair at all because I honestly don’t like the man.

“You have to know I like you, and that I’m attracted to you.” What? “I’ve made no secret of it. I wouldn’t be hanging around you or spending time with you otherwise. Even if English liked you, I would’ve steered things in a different direction, made excuses to her, or whatever. But I didn’t. Because I like you. I happen to think you’re gorgeous. And sexy. And funny. And I want to kiss you and do other things, but I walk the straight and narrow because I try to be the best dad I can and set a good example. So there you have it.”

“You think I’m gorgeous and sexy? Why would you think that?” The question popped out before I could stop it.

His expression immediately changes into one of exasperation. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because. Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”

“Guys like me? What’s that supposed to mean?” He not only is surprised, but sounds borderline insulted by my statement.

“Look at me.”

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“No, I mean, haven’t you seen me? And you … you’re all, well, you could have any woman you wanted.”

“First, you act as though I’m blind. Second, I like what I see. And third, I want what’s right here.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Sheridan, I’m a photographer. I have a very good eye.”

“You may, but you haven’t seen me naked.” Then I clamp my hand over my mouth. Why the hell do I always say shit like this? I’m forever putting my foot in my mouth.

“Is that an offer?” he asks with an arched brow.

“What would your guy friends say about me?”

He lets out a derisive laugh. “Guy friends? I’m a twenty-five-year-old single dad. I was nineteen when English pretty much fell into my life. All my guy friends were frat rats who were more interested in fucking a different girl every weekend and getting as drunk as possible before they did it. Do you think they were interested in me with an infant? My guy friends dropped me like I had the fucking plague. The closest thing I have to guy friends is my dad. Parents with kids English’s age are usually older than me, married with a family, and don’t want to hang out with a young single dad. So my friends are nonexistent.”

Our fingers are touching, and his explanation suddenly makes him more appealing to me. I want this man. In my bed. I want to find out if we’re sexually compatible. But I’m pretty damn sure he’d be disappointed. On the other hand, what do I have to lose? Okay, rejection is pretty hard to take, but it sounds as though he’s sort of into me. Or at least he’s putting on a good show. At least he’s honest about what he wants from me, and it’s all out in the open.

“Is English coming home tonight?”

“No,” he says, smiling. “Wanna test out my big bed and play roll ’em?”

I start laughing so hard I can’t stop. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I have this damn boot.”

“I have an idea,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.

“What’s that?”

“You can do the rolling, and I’ll do the jumping.”

With the most serious face I can manage, I ask, “Didn’t your mom ever teach you?”

“Teach me what?”

“Not to jump on the bed.”

His eyes narrow, and he says, “Yeah, but it’s my bed, and I can do whatever I want in it.”

“I have to sleep on it.”

“We can do that, too, if you want.”

I laugh. “Not your bed. I have to sleep on the whole marriage thing. This is a lot to take in. And as much as I’d like to play roll ’em with you, I think I need to wait until this boot is a part of my past.”

With half-hooded eyes, he says, “Chicken.”

He may be right. What if we end up in the sack and I want him way more than he wants me? Or what if he thinks I’m a huge zero? And that my thighs look like they belong on an elephant instead of a human?

“Why don’t we go back to my place and watch a movie or something? I have another bottle of wine there, and we can talk about this some more.”

I shake my head. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you come to my place instead?” He knows very little about me, and if he truly wants to do this, he needs to find out more about who I am.

“Okay, let’s go.”

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About the Author:

One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, USA Today bestselling author, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn’t do something soon, it would be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So she made a quick decision to quit her job and reinvented herself as a Naughty and Nice Romance Author.

She fancies herself all of the following: Reader, Writer, Dark Chocolate Lover, Ice Cream Worshipper, Coffee Drinker (swears the coffee, chocolate, and ice cream should be added as part of the USDA food groups), Lover of Grey Goose (and an extra dirty martini), #WalterThePuppy Lover, and if you’re ever around her for more than five minutes, you’ll find out she’s a non-stop talker.

Connect with A.M. Hargrove:

Website: http://www.amhargrove.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMHargroveAuthor
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/A.M.-Hargrove/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5338829.A_M_Hargrove

Just Friends by Monica Murphy

Release Date: September 13^th, 2016
Genre: New Adult Romance

Synopsis:

It’s the end of summer. Just before I start senior year with my two best friends in the whole world. Dustin and Emily are everything to me. We’ve been inseparable since middle school, and when we’re together, nothing can go wrong.

But things aren’t always what they seem. Em’s turned into a drunken mess who parties too much. Dustin and I have hooked up a few times―and now he’s ready to take our relationship to the next level. Yet I’m not sure I want things to change. I’m scared if I take it any further with Dustin, our friendship will be ruined forever. Then there’s Ryan. The new guy. He’s hot. He flirts way too much. And Em has totally set her sights on him.

So when my best friend betrays me in the worst possible way, guess who’s there to help me pick up the pieces of my broken heart? Ryan. But he’s so confusing. Annoying. Sweet. Sexy. I want to trust him, yet he makes it so hard. What I really want is for everything to go back to the way it was before.

Before I found out that best friends make the worst kind of enemies.

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Excerpt:

“Liv! Finally you’re here.” She curls her arm around my shoulders and forces me to face Ryan, who’s still sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs spread in that way boys sit, wearing only swim trunks again. Does the guy ever wear actual clothes? “We’ve been waiting for you. Tell Ryan hello.”

“Hello,” I say in a monotone voice, incredibly uncomfortable from interrupting what was surely a private hookup moment. He smiles and rises to his feet, smoothing a hand over his rumpled hair, his biceps bulging with the movement. Hair Em was probably responsible for rumpling. “Hey, Livvy.”

Tingles race over my skin and I force myself to ignore the signs that I might be attracted to this boy who just had his tongue in my best friend’s mouth. I don’t even know him. It’s purely a physical thing, as in every single thing that makes him up physically, I find attractive.

And I shouldn’t. He doesn’t belong to me. He belongs to Em. I should be thinking about Dustin.

Not Ryan.

“I’m so glad you’re finally here.” Em turns toward me, and envelopes me in a warm hug, her mouth on my neck as she starts to speak again. “I’ve missed you.”

I hug her back, my gaze meeting Ryan’s as I say, “I’ve missed you too.”

He sends me a playful, rolling eyes look that I ignore.

Em kisses my neck and pulls away, her blue eyes bright, her cheeks flushed. She’s wearing a white lacy cover up over a black string bikini and her chin-length, gold-streaked bob is tucked behind her ears. She’s effortlessly gorgeous, all rosy from kissing a cute boy for who knows how long. “Now that you’re here the party can start.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Looks like it’s already been going for the last few days.”

Em rolls her eyes and lets go of me, heading for her dresser. “I was just biding my time until you showed up.”

“So I bring the party?” I tease, meeting Ryan’s gaze once more.

“You definitely bring something,” he tells me before pulling me into a tight hug. My chest presses against his, my arms going around his waist for the briefest moment before I release him and back far away.

He makes me nervous.

“Aw, I love that you guys are already hugging!” Em cries as she watches us.

Guilt swamps me but Ryan just smiles. “I’ll leave you girls alone.” He looks at me. “See you at the pool.”

And then he’s gone.

The air seems to cool the moment he’s le the room and

I go to stand next to Em, watching as she digs through the top drawer of her dresser. It’s an elaborate piece of furniture, cream-colored with an endless number of drawers, every one of them stuffed full of clothes. The one she’s digging through now is over flowing with lacy scraps of fabric. There are panties in every style and color, boy shorts and thongs and bikinis, some of it standard, most of it sexy.

Her underwear drawer is like Em in a nutshell.

“So how’s your summer been? Besides the partying and hanging out with the popular crowd? Have you done anything else?” I’m trying to make conversation but she’s hardly paying attention to me.

“It’s been so boring without you here,” she says, her head practically buried in that drawer.

I think she’s saying that to make me feel better. Not that she needs to. I’m a big girl. She’s allowed to have fun when I’m not around.

“What are you looking for?” I ask.
“A black lacy thong I bought last week.” She lifts her head and smiles at me. “I want to wear it tonight.”
“But aren’t we going swimming?”
Em blows out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, but I don’t want to forget. I want to wear it for…” Her voice drifts and she purses her lips.

“Ryan?”

She sighs and slams the drawer shut, turning to look at me. “Well, yeah. But it’s no big deal. We’re just friends.”

I raise a brow. “Is that what you call it? Because I hate to break it to you, but you were kissing him just a few minutes ago, and he had his hand on your boob.”

“So crude.” She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Voyeur.”

“Just stating facts. Facts I saw with my own eyes.” I pause, but she doesn’t say anything. “I don’t get why you can’t say that you like him and he likes you. What’s the big deal?”

“Because he refuses to make this a big deal so I can’t, okay? He told me straight up that we’re going to be just friends and that’s it.”

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About the Author:

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Connect with Monica:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MonicaMurphyauthor
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