Friends To Lovers

“Trust me, I’ve wanted to punch you in the face a time or five.” When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to. It didn't take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she'd seen in the international soccer icon - why she'd ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies. Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn't known she'd existed. So she isn't prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team's season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he'd once been.

If anyone ever said being an adult was easy, they hadn't been one long enough. Diana Casillas can admit it: she doesn't know what the hell she's doing half the time. How she's made it through the last two years of her life without killing anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Being a grown-up wasn’t supposed to be so hard. With a new house, two little boys she inherited the most painful possible way, a giant dog, a job she usually loves, more than enough family, and friends, she has almost everything she could ever ask for. Except for a boyfriend. Or a husband. But who needs either one of those?

What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life. But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists. When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.

Xander Being a career hotshot, a wildland firefighter, is all I've ever known. It's my greatest passion. This job is dangerous, and after watching my parents' marriage fail because of it, I knew long ago I'd never be a relationship kinda guy. All of that changes when my best friend moves his recently widowed\-\-and pregnant\-\-younger sister and her two kids in next door. I've been crazy about Teddy for years. So when I happen to assist in an unexpected emergency home birth for her new baby, I find myself spending more and more time near her and her kids. Teddy's heart is locked up like Fort Knox after losing her husband, and breaking down her defenses is damn near impossible... but I want to show her that I'm here to stay. For all of them. As superintendent, my duty to my crew has always been my priority. But with Teddy's heart on the line, can I give up the only life I've ever known? Or am I doomed to be honor bound and lose the only woman I've ever loved?

Candace Hanes is no stranger to the dating scene. In fact, she’s been on nothing but casual dates since her last serious relationship ended years ago. But as soon as Chase Mitchell asks for her number on a discarded receipt, she’s smitten. Except, he hadn’t asked for her number at all. He was more interested in the barista working behind the counter. As soon as Candace realizes this irresistible man isn’t interested in her, she knows she needs to keep him at a distance. No one that suave, that charismatic, that hot has any business being just her friend. Easier said than done. Especially when Chase admits he needs a fake date for his company’s Christmas party to keep his insufferable boss from cornering him under the mistletoe. . . again. Now, Candace has to find a way to make it through practice dates, subtle touches, and fake kisses unscathed. Will their performance simply keep his boss at bay, or will Candace get a love that lasts for Christmases to come?