Showing results by narrator "Christopher Rourke" in All Categories

One thing my childhood taught me was never show my emotions. Don’t make memories. Don’t count on other people. Don’t hope for the best. All that changed when I was adopted by Ryan and Whitney Kepler. Begrudgingly, I let them into my life, along with my new sister and a best friend I would lay down my life for. But giving up my heart and accepting love in return from Kelsea Harrison? It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do. And the truth is? I’m not sure if I’m that strong.

Karsyn Fallaway: Tucker didn’t stop my car as it drove away from his house that summer night, and the sting of rejection hasn't gone away. More than a year has gone by, and I find myself looking for him in all the places he’d been before. It doesn’t help, he’s still an enigma I have yet to figure out. My friends are the only thing holding me together. Work is the one thing keeping my mind busy. Until my life threatens to tear completely apart.

I’ve spent the last few years watching my dreams of a writing career and true love fade away, settling for a dead-end job and denying my feelings for my best friend—until I find a list of dating advice for single women to “find a husband” in the 1950s. I decide to experiment: Try out the 1950s advice on my 21st-century dating pool and write about the results. If love is timeless, some of the dating advice still holds value. Maybe my experiment will launch my writing career. Maybe I’ll get over my best friend and meet someone new.

Mason “Menace” Harrison: "Single and ready to mingle...." Those are the words above every picture of almost every female that strikes my interest on this dating app my son talked me into getting. After being a single dad for 17 years, I’m ready to spread my wings, just not with most of the coeds who keep hitting on me and calling me daddy. Now that Caleb’s in his senior year of high school, I feel like I can let go of the iron-clad control I’ve had on myself without his mom in our lives.

Basil Paddington is living his dream. He's built from the ground up a safe space for anyone to get the services they need to feel beautiful. He's very proud of the work he's done and the life he's built. He has a successful business, friends, and a lovely cat named Arnold. What more could he possibly need?

Chance Maxwell is the most arrogant man I’ve ever known - and he’s my boss. Worse, he’s incredibly sexy. At least until he opens his condescending mouth. I hate being indebted to him for this job, but I have more important priorities to worry about. My attraction to him is growing despite my better judgment. But I sure as hell won’t ever reveal it to him.

Sanderson always envied the townies, all smiling faces and holding hands at his performances. He wanted the happy ever after that came with real life, not the pretend one in the twinkling fairy lights of the Moonlight Market. So when the Weaver of Dreams conjured him a normal life, college classes instead of performances, a chance at a boyfriend instead of an audience, he ran for daylight. Now a year later, he’s learned that connecting with someone physically doesn’t always lead to a lasting relationship.

Coming on the heels of a big, fat failure at work, my best friend Madi's glamorous French wedding is the perfect opportunity to prove I can do some things well–even if it kills me, which is looking like a distinct possibility. Maid of honor duties are no joke. And while I could honestly use an extra hand or ten, I have to refuse the offer of help from Madi's flirt of a brother, Jack. Nothing would spoil the beautiful wedding festivities faster than her finding out about that thing that happened between Jack and me that one time . . .

ife gets a little crazy sometimes, especially when you've got two kids, two businesses, and you are two parents who are very hands on. But when Trick's gift doesn't get here in time for Christmas, I have to improvise. They say variety is the spice of life. To keep my man happy, marriage on track, and our sanity, I decide to give him what he craves most in the world. Me. With a bow on top. Patrick Tennyson won't know what hit him. It'll be the surprise of his life, and all he'll have to do is follow the instructions.

As a probationary firefighter, I’m doing everything I can to impress the members of my company. Knowing I’m the first in my family to be educated makes me proud, and gives me hope for the future. I hold myself to a higher standard than anyone else, especially with a southern small-town breathing down my neck. One night, on a dark mountain road, I help the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life change a flat tire.

The kid is now a man, and he’s got something to prove..."A Dad is a son’s first hero"...All my life I’ve looked up to my Dad, there’s nothing I ever wanted to do more than be a member of the Moonshine Task Force right next to him. I said no to playing football professionally to stay in Laurel Springs and fulfill my dream. I’m biding my time, paying my dues, and soaking up any bit of information my fellow MTF members slip my way. To most of them I’m the kid they watched grow up, and while they’re proud of me, they don’t take me seriously.

Lois Washington is at the end of her rope. Struggling as a single mother in an apartment the size of a closet is not the New York City adventure she dreamed of in her starry-eyed youth. When her job goes on the chopping block, she is ready for a major life change. Joining her best friend in Tennessee to become the newest employee at the Green Valley Public Library isn't exactly where she thought life would take her, but she feels up for the challenge. Only this relocation comes with more than she bargained for.

Dominic Chambers is the most charming man I’ve ever met—and he’s my new boss. He may cause my heart skip a beat, but the last thing I need is a relationship with the playboy who owns the company. After a disastrous breakup, I’m committed to focusing on my year of self-healing. I’ve kept my emotional distance from him, until an unexpected evening brings us closer. He can’t discover the truth. No matter how much I wish I could tell him.

Cadence Lewis has been dancing before she could walk. Living in New York with her parents she has the chance to go to the best dance school in the country, but when her parents divorce she’s forced to leave her dreams behind and move to her mom’s small country hometown. Cadence believes that all men are like her father: cold, unloving, and selfish. Barrick Carpenter has made Candace's life eventful since the day she stepped onto her grandma’s farm.

Caleb Morrison is the most uptight man I’ve ever met—and he’s my new boss. One moment he’s cold, the next he’s unexpectedly sweet. It’s enough to give me whiplash. Despite my attraction to him, I’m convinced we’re too different to be more than friends. But then he flips the script, and I’m left with a decision.

After an eventful Christmas break, Cadence Lewis is shaken to her core, but someone she doesn't expect is there to hold her together. Barrick Carpenter didn't plan on falling in love with the sassy New Yorker, but now he will do anything to protect her from her father. When a second bombshell is dropped on Cadence, she has two options: guard her heart forever or risk letting love in. Will Cadence push Barrick away or fall completely head over boots?

I take my jobs very seriously. Both of them. I'm a lieutenant with Bradford Station Company One, and I'm a single dad to a little girl who completely brightens my world. It's not easy holding it all together, but I do my best. Honestly, I wouldn't be doing as well as I am without my best friend's sister. Natalie treats my daughter like her own and watches her for me without complaint.

Tripp Sharpe and I have been best friends since middle school. And when he moved away to go to medical school and become a doctor? We’ve kept up by texting, phone calls, and every funny reel we come across. I have one simple rule for myself: protect our friendship at all costs—even from myself. But when Tripp moves back to town, I can't ignore the attraction I feel. If it were anyone else, I’d just avoid him. But it's hard to avoid a guy who thinks we're still the same ol' besties we've always been.

Vladimir has always been the oddball among the Frazier kids. With his love for reptiles, gothic appearance, and devil-may-care attitude, he can be easily separated from the rest of the Frazier bunch. At 22, he is standing on solid ground and trying to create a life of his own. However, it does get lonely sometimes. He is young, but knows his days of partying and sleeping around cannot last forever. He is slowly running out of options when it comes to the female population of Tyler, Texas. Until Carrisa Abbott walks into the pet store where Vladimir works.

It had been a gang rape. As bad as that was, it was not the turning point. Her life turned around when Cindy Smith put it behind her and started over. She got her degree and a good job. She married a great guy. Then she discovered that one of the rapists was a coworker. When Adan Jackson begins harassing her, Cindy tries to protect her secret past by ignoring him. When he escalates, she turns to Private Investigator Nickey Arnold for help. The PI quickly finds herself caught up in unfinished business from the past. When she confronts Adan, things spin out of control.