Showing results by author "Brooke St. James" in All Categories

It's been said that the best time to find love is when you aren't looking for it. Rachel Stephens was a prime example of that. She was solely focused on completing her last year of dental school and love wasn't even on her radar.

I knew the Blair brothers. It was impossible to grow up in Astoria and not be familiar with them. There were four boys in the Blair family, and all of them had that certain something. They were smart, athletic, funny, and gorgeous. If I was forced to pick my favorite, it would have to be Henry. He was the wild one of the bunch - a rock star.

Every girl imagines meeting her prince charming. It's doubtful, however, that any of these fantasies include it happening when they're soaked with sweat and knee-deep in pond scum. Fate can be funny that way.

I always wanted to live at the beach. It had been my dream since I was a little girl. I longed to experience the sand and sea. My heart's desire was to become a famous artist who painted scenes with palm trees and blue waters. Finally, I was moving to a coastal town. It was only three hours from where I grew up, but it might as well have been paradise with how excited I was. My sister was coming with me, except she didn't care about painting palm trees and beach scenes. She was only in it for the shirtless guys.

My name is Rae, and this is my story. Regretfully, it begins on a sad note. Everything was taken from me when my husband died in a tragic car accident. The only person on Earth who could have possibly been hurting more than me was my beloved mother-in-law, Laura, who lost her husband and only sons in the same accident.

Sidney arrived at Ash and Abigail's wedding with the simple expectation she'd see her friends get married and wish them all the best. Getting caught serenading the fish in the aquarium was one thing she did not expect to happen. She certainly didn't expect the person who caught her to be a handsome businessman who instantly wanted to hire her for her vocal talent. Truth be told, she didn't even think she had any vocal talent. Most of all, she by no means expected to fall in love with the aforementioned businessman.

I was heartbroken and oblivious the first time I met Warren Manning. I wasn’t a fan of country music, so I had no idea who he was. We had a brief but heartfelt conversation, and Warren left my life as quickly as he entered it. A few months later I discovered just how famous he was. It was cool that I had met him once, but I figured I would never see him again.

Paige Spears was on her way to a job interview when she first met Diane Hunt. The two of them made friendly conversation while waiting for their breakfast, and Diane ended up asking Paige to come work for her for the summer. Paige was reluctant about beginning her corporate career anyway, so she jumped at Diane's offer. As luck would have it, her first assignment was to spend a week in Myrtle Beach with Diane and her family.

I wasn't the only woman in the world who had been cheated on. I certainly wasn't the only woman who had sworn off men because of it. I was, however, one of the few who was willing to stick to my guns about it. Men would sometimes see that as a challenge, but before too long they would realize I wasn't interested.

Charlotte Ritchie was traveling halfway across the world to attend her brother's wedding. She and a small group of family and friends planned on spending the week prior to the wedding volunteering at a rescue center in Kenya. Her new sister-in-law had grown up there with her missionary parents, and everyone thought it was the perfect way to celebrate the event. Falling in love might not have been on Charlotte's to-do list that week, but as we all know, life doesn't always turn out the way we plan.

Evan Hunt had spent most of his adult life working as an environmentalist and living out of a duffle bag. It came as a total shock when his father suddenly confronted him about setting goals for his future. Evan wasn't much for following rules and his instinct was to simply ignore what his dad was saying. However, he decided it was time to set his sights on success just to prove to his family that he could do it. And that's exactly what he did. Just when it seemed like everything was coming together, Evan was involved in a serious motorcycle accident.

I was all set to embark on the most epic adventure of my life. I was ready for anything. My life had been filled with predictability since the day I was born, but that was about to change. I had devised a plan. Over the course of the next five years, I would live in five different cities. I would get to see, taste, and experience things I had previously only read about. I had been preparing for this moment for nearly a decade, and now it was time.

I had always dreamed of falling in love. I was ready and eager to find my happily ever after, but there was just one problem. The man I so desperately wanted to fall for was not available. He was taken - spoken for. He wasn't married, but he had been with someone for a long time. It didn’t help matters that she happened to be my friend.

Having a crush on someone who barely seems to notice you is never easy. It only leads to heartbreak and disappointment. Mia Hunt occasionally found herself in that very situation. Fortunately, her dream guy lived all the way across the country and their encounters were rare. When they were in each other's presence, she made every effort to keep her distance and not get her hopes up.

What do you do when your best friend calls and says she's getting married in a matter of days on a different continent? You hop on a plane and go to be with her, of course. Lu Osborne was doing precisely that. She boarded a flight that was headed for Ireland on only a few days' notice despite the fact that she had a lot of irons in the fire. Other than witnessing a fairytale wedding and maybe doing a little sightseeing, Lu didn't expect anything to come from the trip. She certainly didn't expect to fall in love with her best friend's brother, Joe.

For some, it's love at first sight. But things don't always work like that. Sometimes people take time getting to know one another before sparks begin to fly. And people can even fall in love with someone they once considered their enemy. I, Tara Castro, could for instance, get all caught up in the magic of finding a secret room and fall madly in love with someone who I initially despised.

The first time I met Malcolm Shepherd, I whispered in his ear. I had my reasons for doing it, which he knew nothing about. It probably seemed a bit odd to him, and he undoubtedly got the wrong idea about me. Because of that, one thing led to another and we ended up kissing only ten minutes after our first introduction.

It's a difficult thing to be in love with someone who only sees you as a friend. That feeling was something Kristen Hall had long since grown accustomed to. Her epic crush on Jake Reynolds had lasted so long that her friends didn't even tease her about it anymore. Or maybe it was that she had just gotten better at hiding it after all these years. Kristen couldn't help but hope that maybe one day, somehow, miraculously, Jake would decide he loved her back. Perhaps something would just click, and he would realize he couldn't go on living without her.

Zoe Etheridge packed her bags and said goodbye to her small-town Texas life. Her dad's dying wish was that she followed her dreams in New York City, and she was bound and determined to make that happen. It was only a day or so into her trip when she realized she might have bitten off more than she could chew. Zoe assumed that the Shower & Shelter Artist Collective was open to any artist who needed a place to live in the city. She had no idea that landing a spot in the house was highly competitive.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Sarah Spicer took this saying to heart, at least where love was concerned. She had given up any hope in ever finding a decent man. She was convinced they had only one thing on their minds and were untrustworthy and unfit for relationships. This was exactly why she had a strict no-dating policy. That was before she met Collin Ross.