Good Guy Heroes Boxed Set Read online

  The Summit Authors Present:

  Favorite Romance Themes™

  GOOD GUY HEROES

  Five complete novels in one volume

  Meet the Authors:

  Julie Ortolon is a USA Today bestselling author who has earned raves from Publishers Weekly and Booklist for her sparkling romantic comedies filled with passion and heart. Her novels regularly appear at the top of the ebook bestseller lists.

  Wendy Lindstrom is a RITA Award-winning author of “beautifully poignant, wonderfully emotional” historical romances. Romantic Times has dubbed her “one of romance’s finest Americana writers,” and readers rave about her enthralling characters and the riveting emotional power of her work.

  Lauren Royal has earned raves from reviewers including Publishers Weekly, who calls her “an impressive talent.” Her “truly enchanting” humorous historical romances have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide and won awards including Booklist’s Top 10 Romance of the Year.

  Jacquie D’Alessandro is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, spanning the genres of romantic comedy, historical and paranormal romance, contemporary women’s fiction, and non-fiction. All her books are filled with two of her favorite things—love and laughter.

  Patricia McLinn is a USA Today bestselling author of 30 “powerful, compelling” contemporary romances cherished by readers worldwide for their memorable characters, sensuality and emotional intensity. There are more than 4 million copies of her books in print.

  Samples

  If you downloaded the free sample of this boxed set, you can click below to sample the opening chapter of:

  Dear Cupid by Julie Ortolon

  Kissing in the Dark by Wendy Lindstrom

  Lost in Temptation by Lauren Royal

  Kiss the Cook by Jacquie D’Alessandro

  Prelude to a Wedding by Patricia McLinn

  Table of Contents

  *

  DEAR CUPID

  “Just like a valentine…Julie Ortolon’s lively style and brisk pacing are perfectly suited to her playful theme, and her characterizations of Mike and of Kate’s maritally muddled neighbors have a genuinely appealing warmth.” —Publisher’s Weekly

  *

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  *

  KISSING IN THE DARK

  “Awesome underlying emotional power…guaranteed to move you to tears.” —Romantic Times

  *

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-one

  Chapter Forty-two

  Chapter Forty-three

  Chapter Forty-four

  *

  LOST IN TEMPTATION

  “Royal brings her flair for mixing richly detailed historical settings with sinfully sexy romance to the Regency world in the beguiling start to a new trilogy featuring the Chase sisters.” —John Charles, Booklist

  *

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Epilogue

  *

  KISS THE COOK

  “Pulsating with sexual tension and a cast of marvelous characters whose dialog is fresh and filled with passion, this delicious tale is a definite keeper.” —Rendezvous Magazine

  *

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  *

  PRELUDE TO A WEDDING

  Wonderful … I cheered them on all the way” —Rendezvous

  *

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five


  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  DEAR CUPID

  *

  By Julie Ortolon

  Chapter 1

  *

  Dear Cupid,

  Do you believe in love at first sight?

  Seriously Smitten

  Dear Seriously Smitten,

  Absolutely! I always enjoy a good fairy tale.

  In the real world, things take a bit longer. What appears to be love at first sight is actually a subconscious recognition of a potentially compatible mate, a premonition, so to speak, of what could be. Only time will tell if the premonition comes true.

  Cupid

  KATE NEEDED A MAN. Any man.

  The publisher of the online magazine that carried her advice column had been clear: Find a new man, or find a new job. Apparently, the author of Dear Cupid needed romance in her own life in order to connect with her readers.

  Romance? Kate hadn’t experienced romance personally for years. Not since the beginning of her disastrous marriage. Maybe not even that recently.

  Oh God, she was so going to lose her job.

  Glancing around the gate area of the Los Angeles airport, however, she realized any man wouldn’t do. The businessman pacing before the window looked too edgy; the grandfather with the armload of Disney souvenirs too old; and the two men in the corner appeared a little too interested in each other for her purpose.

  What she needed was a nice, reasonably attractive sort of man. Someone friendly. Approachable. Someone with whom she could flirt. Nothing more. Just flirt. The last thing in the world she wanted was the emotional turmoil of an actual relationship, but a tiny reminder of how romance felt couldn’t hurt.

  She still couldn’t believe that Gwen, the owner and publisher of Gwendolyn’s Garden, had threatened to cancel her column over such a thing. She was Cupid, for goodness sake! They couldn’t cancel Cupid. Her column generated thousands of hits a month for the magazine. Or at least it used to. As Gwen had pointed out, her popularity was dwindling—because her column had lost its spark.

  Now, however, was not the time for worry or self-pity. She needed to take control, to recapture the carefree spirit she’d lost during her final years as Edward’s wife.

  Turning her head, she saw a new passenger stroll into the gate area. Her tumbling thoughts slowed at the sight of him. He had potential. First thing in his favor, he looked nothing like her uptight ex-husband. He had the sun-streaked hair and rich tan of a man who spent a lot of time relaxing in sunny places. The Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants gave him a casual, lived-in look that told her status didn’t rate high on his priority list. Edward, on the other hand, was been dark-haired and model gorgeous, and he wore designer clothes as easily as some men wore jeans. He’d also turned into a self-absorbed, materialistic workaholic who cared more about his career―and the social status that came with it―than he did about his family.

  The stranger’s battered gym bag, which he carried as luggage, made her briefly wonder if he even had a job. Not that it mattered, since she didn’t want to date him. She just wanted to dip one toe back into a pond she’d thought had dried up.

  When the stranger reached the ticket counter, he lifted his blue-mirrored sunglasses and smiled at the ticket agent. Kate’s heart did something it hadn’t done in years; it gave a hard thump of desire against her ribs.

  Goodness. She pressed a hand to her chest. Where had that come from?

  His smile, she realized. The man had a devastating smile and relaxed posture that conveyed both confidence and easygoing humor. Generous laugh lines winged outward from his eyes, marking him as older than she’d first thought. Late thirties, perhaps. As for his body, the baggy shirt hid a lot, but watching him move, she suspected the broad shoulders tapered down to narrow hips.

  Some long-dormant part of her stirred to life.

  That scared her nearly as much as the thought of approaching him. Not that shyness had ever been an issue for her. Far from it. She loved people. She just hadn’t interacted with a man in a romantic sense for more years than she cared to think about.

  She could do this, though. She would do this.

  The minute he took his seat, she stood and tugged at the jacket of the red power suit she’d worn in an attempt to bolster her confidence for her meeting earlier that day. Time to take her first baby step toward getting her fun, romantic self back. All she had to do was approach a stranger in an airport and flirt his pants off—figuratively speaking.

  ***

  MIKE PULLED OFF his sunglasses and stowed them in his bag as he collapsed on a seat. Dropping the bag at his feet, he took a moment to make sure his computer rested safely on top. Then he slumped down with his head resting on the back of the seat to wait for his flight.

  Exhaustion closed his eyes. He was getting too old to put in these sixteen-hour workdays for weeks on end. What he wouldn’t give to just pass out for the duration of the flight. Unfortunately, he had too much on his mind to give in to sleep. Squeezing in some time to visit his family between back-to-back meetings had pointed out the big gaping hole in his life where a wife and some children should be. His twenty-year high school reunion had driven the point home. What a reality check that had been! He couldn’t believe some of his former classmates had children in college, while he had yet to even get married. How had twenty years flown by so fast? One of these days, he really needed to catch up on everything he’d let slide.

  The problem was he enjoyed his job a little too much. Make that way too much. As a special effects movie animator, he loved everything about his work. Even the demanding schedule that pushed him creatively, mentally, and sometimes even physically, gave him a thrill. That was the price you paid for living the dream.

  But was that really living?

  As his mind searched for possible solutions to the problem, a jangling thud sounded right in front of him. He ignored it. Working on movie sets for the past twenty-odd years had taught him to tune out all manner of chaos. Whatever bumped into his leg, however, demanded attention.

  “I’m so sorry,” an anxious voice insisted. “Please excuse me.”

  He opened his eyes and found a woman crouched before him as she reached beneath his seat.

  “How terribly clumsy of me,” she said. Her purse had fallen and spilled its contents at his feet. Long, coppery curls obscured her face, brushing his knee as she hurried to collect her belongings. He leaned forward, intending to help her on her way as expediently as possible so he could get back to mulling over how to find some balance in his life.

  “I swear, I’m such a klutz today,” she rushed on, gathering up pens and breath mints, a mobile phone, some loose change, a set of keys, and several business cards.

  Shaking his head, he reached for a runaway tube of lipstick only to have his hand collide with hers. The lipstick tried to skitter away, but he grabbed it before it made good its escape.

  “Gotcha,” he said, chuckling. He lifted his head to address the lipstick’s owner and found himself face-to-face with the most enchanting woman he’d ever seen. She had a heart-shaped face with an impish nose, stubborn chin, and pouty lips that begged to be tasted. Gazing into her shamrock-green eyes, he felt his insides swirl, as if he were falling forward into a field of clover—a field where a man could lie back and rest with a woman snuggled to his side as he lazily watched the clouds float by. A smile slowly turned up the corners of her lips, and he realized her eyes tipped up at the corners as well.

  “I really am terribly sorry,” she said in a breathy voice that reached inside him and tied his stomach into knots of pure desire. “It’s the flying, you see.” She placed a hand over her chest. “Planes make me very… nervous.”