Hearts on Fire: Romance Multi-Author Box Set Anthology

by Violet Vaughn

  Suddenly, I was so glad I’d decided to be brave. “Of course. I know how hard you’ve worked for this. You should be so proud of yourself.”

  “I am.” He nodded. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”

  “Why not? You asked me to.”

  He shrugged and looked away. “I quit the club.”

  “Rosa just told me.”

  “It served its purpose.”

  A lot like he and Kieran had. They’d been catalysts of sorts—both of them. “I really wanted to tell you something.”

  “Yeah?” He looked up, his expression unreadable.

  “First, I’m proud of you for chasing your dreams. I think it’s amazing that you did this all on your own, no matter what it took. Second, I wanted to tell you that you changed me. In a good way. You didn’t just tell me I was a certain thing, you showed me. I don’t know if I can ever thank you for that.”

  He was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, he said, “How did the launch go?”

  “It was…surreal. I sold out in a half an hour.”

  The unreadable, solemn expression bloomed into a smile. “That’s great, Claire. I never doubted your success for a second.” Silence reigned again, an icy queen. “How’s Kieran?”

  I bit my lip. “I don’t know.”

  “That bastard.”

  “No, it’s okay. Really. We talked about it.” If you could call what happened talking about it. “And we realized it wasn’t going to work. I mean, we hadn’t even had one day as a couple before he was fucking someone else. Kieran and I, we’re all ashes and dust.”

  “Surely the friendship is worth saving.”

  “He didn’t want to.”

  “I’m sorry. This is my fault. It just… I thought you needed to get him out of your system. Or he had to get you out of his.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess we both did with no half measures.” I sighed. “But we don’t have to talk about Kieran. I’m here to celebrate your day. To be your friend the way you were mine. You deserve that.”

  He had gone quiet again.

  “Hey, you know, what happened? I hope you’re not sorry for that. It was painful, but it was a useful kind of pain. You might even say transformative. I’m not sorry it happened. I mean, part of me wishes that I hadn’t said yes to Kieran joining us, but then I’d have wondered. I’d have kept doubting myself.”

  “Now you don’t doubt yourself?” he asked, sounding curious.

  “Of course I do.” I laughed. “But the difference is that when I talk myself through it, I believe what I say.” I shrugged.

  “I’m still sorry he treated you the way he did.”

  “He has his own demons. I guess we all do,” I said thinking of Bex.

  “You’re right about that.” He took my hand. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too. More than you know.” My stupid nose prickled again. I was not going to cry. I’d cried enough in the last month to last me forever. I wasn’t that girl, the one who always had tears in her beer.

  “Are you sure you don’t want Kieran?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Maybe we can start over, Claire. I’d like to call you sometime.”

  I laughed. “I’d like you to call me. Hell, let’s get crazy. You could even text.”

  “That might be too rich for my blood.” He winked.

  “Okay. How about tonight we celebrate like we planned. Midnight picnic, champagne under the stars to celebrate Chubbalicious and your graduation.”

  “You don’t think that might be a little too familiar too soon?”

  I considered him for a moment. There was no doubt he made my body sing, but that’s not what I was after. “No, I don’t. See, I want you to be my friend first. Like you offered before. Midnight picnics are my favorite things.”

  “What if I can’t help but get fresh?”

  “No, I know you.” And I realized that while I may not know everything about Brant Edward Bowman, I knew the important things.

  “All the mystery is gone already,” he teased.

  “Mystery is overrated. Intimacy is kind of nice.”

  “Kinda. If you’re into that.” He wrapped his arm around my waist. “So, you want to get out of here?”

  “What about the reception?”

  “Fuck it. You’re the person I wanted here and you came. That’s all I needed.”

  “Okay, it’s a long time until picnic time. What do you want to do?”

  “How about we get some supplies for our picnic and take some long drives down some unknown country roads until we find a place we like?”

  “Yeah, that sounds rather perfect.”

  As I walked with him out to his car, I knew I was going to get my happily ever after. I didn’t know if it was going to be with Brant, but I had the rest of my life with a version of myself I was proud to be.

  As it turned out, being fat wasn’t the worst thing I could be. I didn’t have to change my outside to get my happy ending. I had to change my insides.

  One of my favorite romance writers says that happy ever after is a journey not a destination.

  I think she’s right.

  * * *

  Are you ready for Bex’s story? You can read about her journey here:

  Slut

  “You’re a woman who is comfortable in her own sexuality. That necessarily means you must be labeled, categorized and filed away for everyone’s safety.”

  Rebecca “Bex” Foxworth likes that description of herself. It makes her sound strong, dangerous, and powerful—like she’s standing against some grand injustice by using her body as she sees fit. That’s how her friend Claire Howard sees her and if Claire has taught her anything, it’s that labels are defined by the people who wear them, and not the other way around.

  But SLUT is more than a label to Bex: it’s her armor. It protects her from ever having to share her true self. The loop in her head tells her she’s innately flawed and wholly unworthy. Why else would her parents insist she go under the knife for a new nose, a new body, and plastic perfection?

  That’s something Thornton Henry Edgeleaf would never understand. Thornton is perfect, in every way—handsome, worldly, passionate—with just one unforgivable flaw: he’s utterly sincere. It makes Bex want to run screaming, back into the familiar, indifferent arms of men who won’t fail to dismiss and mistreat her. But nothing’s as easy as it used to be…

  About Sara Wylde

  Sara Wylde is the crackfic! contemporary pen name for PNR/UF author Saranna DeWylde. She rather imagines that all the pen names live in the same dorm in her head and frequently have discussions that look and sound something like an episode of Herman's Head.

  theoriginalsarawylde

  www.sarawylde.com

  All That Glitters - Lily Zante

  Italian Summer Series, Book 2

  It started in Bellagio…

  Andrea Brunelli enjoys life. She loves her business and she enjoys her friends. But make no mistakes, her business always comes first.

  A girlie weekend at the Villa Costanza provides the perfect opportunity to unwind. If only her friends would stop telling her to find a man—she’s not interested, especially after her last embarrassing encounter.

  Yet she is thrilled when Riley James, a wealthy and handsome American staying at the same hotel, seeks her out. Unlucky in love, Andrea tries to take things slowly. But Riley James has other plans.

  When he later shows up at her warehouse, she is determined not to let him slip away. And so begins a seductive Italian summer romance.

  Until her business partner makes things difficult for them. And when her nights of passion lead to more than she had bargained for Andrea discovers that there is a price to pay.

  Is her passionate new romance all that it is set up to be or is there more to it than meets the eye?

  ‘All That Glitters’ is the second book in the ‘Italian Summer Series’, which is a spin-off from the ‘Honeymoon Series’. The first book in that series is �
��Honeymoon For One,’ and it is currently free at all retailers.

  ‘Italian Summer’ consists of a series of books which tell the stories about the characters who first appeared in the ‘Honeymoon Series’.

  In addition you also get to discover what is going on in the lives of the main couple, Ava and Nico, from the Honeymoon Series.

  If you haven’t read the first three books in the Honeymoon series, please be aware that there will be spoilers in this book.

  The timelines of both series are connected and you can find a recommended reading order here.

  ‘All That Glitters’ is Andrea’s story.

  Copyright © 2015 Lily Zante

  Lily Zante

  All That Glitters

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book through the internet or any other means without the prior written consent of the author is illegal and is punishable by law.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously and do not bear any resemblance to any real person, alive or dead.

  Acknowledgements

  As always I would like to thank the following ladies who read through my books and find all the errors that I have completely missed. I am truly grateful for their time, help and support:

  Marcia Chamberlain

  April Lowe

  Dena Pugh

  Charlotte Rebelein

  Carole Tunstall

  And once again, a huge ‘Thank you’ to the ever talented Renata Lechner for creating my covers:

  Website: http://thelemadreamsart.deviantart.com

  1

  “You dropped your towel.”

  His voice, soft and golden like melted butter, stole into her thoughts, jolting her from her dreamlike state. Andrea, who had been lying on the sun-lounger, letting the sun kiss her bikini-clad body, now opened her eyes and looked up through the brown filter of her sunglasses.

  Him again. She’d noticed him before, she thought, watching him as he stood beside her with a white towel in his hand.

  He was gorgeousness personified and so different from the dark haired Italian men she was used to. The man before her was blue-eyed and golden and hotter than lava; she thanked the god of fitness, for she could see that the gym had been particularly good to him.

  Blinking, she became vaguely aware that her own towel lay by her feet and she was just about to reply to the handsome stranger when Caprice beat her to it.

  “That’s mine,” her friend purred, leaning over Andrea to take the towel from him and no doubt giving the man a good eyeful in her plunging cherry red bikini. Andrea’s eyes narrowed. Caprice, with her long straight hair and luscious body, had the type of figure and full lips that gave men ideas.

  The man glanced at her friend and grinned, and Andrea was grateful for the huge Prada shades that shielded her eyes as her gaze swept easily over his chest and arms. He looked like a tower of strength, standing over her with his tall and taut gym-sculpted body. She felt vulnerable lying down in her bikini and propped herself up to a seated position. Her movement attracted his attention and he looked at her, making her feel self-conscious and excited all at once.

  “Are you ladies enjoying your stay here?” he asked. His accent was American, she noticed and the more she stared at his electric blue eyes—as blue as the lake which the Villa Costanza overlooked—the more she recalled that she’d seen him yesterday, too.

  The pitter-patter of her heart increased and she briefly wondered whether the sun had affected her. She was far too cautious and sensible to believe in insta-love, yet here she was ogling this man as though he was the last of his species.

  Her body was reacting to him—even if her mind still sat on the side-lines wondering when to join the game. She tried to think of something to say, so that he would know she had a voice, that she wasn’t mute.

  “We are,” said Caprice, wriggling around in her seat. “Someone had a big milestone birthday celebration this weekend.”

  “A milestone birthday?” he asked, his eyes twinkling. “A twenty-first?” he asked, all innocent.

  “She turned thirty,” replied Andrea, nodding her head at Caprice and finally getting a chance to prove that she could talk.

  “Thirty is the new twenty,” Caprice declared as she rubbed sun lotion slowly and suggestively over her upper body. Andrea smiled at the man, more out of embarrassment for her friend who had turned the art of applying sun cream into foreplay.

  “I agree. That’s quite a milestone you celebrated in style.” With his attention directed at Caprice, Andrea’s eyes darted to his body. Her gaze lowered to his swim shorts which hung dangerously low on his waist. Rivulets of water trickled down his chest and kept her transfixed as she watched them cling to the light dusting of golden hairs across his chest.

  He caught her looking and her throat dried up like a prune. She didn’t know where to look.

  “Nice meeting you, ladies,” he said, finally. “Happy belated birthday,” he told Caprice before stealing a look in Andrea’s direction. Then he walked away.

  She stared at the perfect V-shape of his back. Caprice made lewd, low moans and licked her lips in pure, unashamed admiration as he stood at the side of the pool, getting ready to make a dive. The glittering water was blue and silver as slivers of sunlight fell and danced upon its gently moving surface. He dove in and disappeared, emerging moments later with his arms raised, thick and corded at the biceps, as he swept back his golden hair.

  Andrea’s heart galloped as though she’d just sprinted four hundred meters. She lay back on the sun-lounger, her chest rising and falling.

  Hot damn.

  “Where did he come from?” Caprice sounded as though she needed an inhaler even though she didn’t suffer from asthma. “If I was single…,” she whispered, adjusting herself on the lounger. “Oh, look,” she cried, almost spilling out of her bikini. “I have my towel here, see.”

  “Maybe someone else dropped theirs,” murmured Andrea.

  “Or maybe that was his line,” purred Caprice. “I think he was interested.”

  “You’re with Luigi.”

  “I can still look.” Caprice pouted. “And he’s not here.”

  “That makes it alright?” Andrea asked.

  “I’m not breaking the law. You can be with one person and still have thoughts for another.”

  “That’s called cheating.”

  “It’s harmless, Andrea. I love Luigi and I would never do anything silly.” She settled back on the chair.

  Andrea welcomed the silence and the feel of the sun as it licked her skin. This weekend had been the tonic she’d needed. The Villa Costanza nestled high above Lake Como and was set in a small wooded peninsula. An enchanting and luxurious hotel, it was tucked away in a quiet corner of Bellagio with only the view of the lake and surrounding greenery around. This magical paradise had enabled her to unwind completely during the long weekend.

  It might have explained why her pulse had rocketed the moment she’d set eyes on the golden haired stranger. She didn’t usually notice men, not as easily as her friends Talia and Caprice did. They seemed to have been born with some sort of heat seeking device which locked onto all the hottest guys within a short range.

  Yet she’d noticed him.

  “It’s been a great weekend, huh?” Caprice asked.

  “It’s been amazing. I so needed this,” Andrea replied, dreamily. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “You are welcome, my darling. I wanted to celebrate with two of my best friends but now I wish I didn’t have to leave so soon. Why didn’t we make it longer?”

  Because it would have cost a fortune, Andrea thought, wishing her friend would lie down and keep quiet for more than a minute.


  “Make sure you plan at least a week for your thirtieth birthday celebrations.” Caprice could talk for the world, and Andrea realized that she wasn’t going to get the peace and quiet she desired. She sat up and tied her thick dark curls into a ponytail.

  “I was thirty last year,” she said quietly.

  “You didn’t invite me!”

  “I didn’t do anything.” Andrea opened her bottle of sun screen lotion and rubbed it over her shoulders. “I think I might have had takeout pizza.”

  Caprice snorted. “That’s tragic! I hope your thirty-first birthday is more exciting. I hope you’ve found a man by then, at least.”

  Andrea’s smile slowly faded and she shook her head. “I don’t think I’m too good in that department.” She’d messed up a few months ago with one of her best friends, Nico Cazale. He was now a reformed man who only had eyes for one woman—a woman who had recently become one of her good friends. Andrea hadn’t shared any of this with Caprice and Talia though.

  “You don’t give yourself a chance. You’re always too busy working in that warehouse of yours.”

  “I happen to love my business and what I do.”

  “A business isn’t going to keep you warm in bed at night. You need someone to share it with. You need to live a little.”

  “I’m lousy when it comes to reading men.” Andrea replied and didn’t like the way Caprice nodded her head eagerly.

  “Am I that bad?” she asked but Caprice seemed to have dropped out of the conversation completely.

  “I think he’s interested,” her friend said, speaking low as though she had no air in her lungs.

  Andrea turned to look just as Caprice hissed, “Don’t look now—”

  But it was too late; she already had. He’d slipped on a baseball cap and pulled it down low over his forehead as he slid down his recliner. The white wires of his headphones hung down his chest and her eyes once more scanned the full length of his body.