Böcker av Melinda Curtis

They used to call her the Bon-Bon Heiress. As one of Bon-Bon Chocolates heiresses, Tiffany Bonander grew up in New York with a silver spoon, a heart of gold, and a lifelong supply of sweets. But now her life is falling apart. Recent changes in cocoa supply from Ecuador are threatening the quality of the family's chocolate and sales are down. Add to that Tiff's penchant for falling in love quickly and breaking engagements at the last minute...Now they call her the Bon-Voyage Bride.Jackson Hardaway is trekking through the Andes in Ecuador as a tribute to a fallen comrade. He didn't expect to meet a beautiful damsel in distress and her three fairy godmothers...er, trio of meddlesome nuns...on his journey. But everything in Ecuador is bigger - the trees, the snakes, the attraction. Is this love? Or just another case made to label Tiff a Runaway Bride? Find out in The Wedding Promise by Melinda Curtis.

USA Today Bestseller Melinda Curtis delivers another installment of Summer Kisses, an irresistibly funny, secret identity, sweet romantic comedy about the Summer family, featuring Grandma Dotty."This is a rom-com that everyone can enjoy because it is a clean read with a lot of heart and soul." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 StarsShe's a serious-minded academic...Professor Violet Summer thinks of herself as the frumpy Summer sister who doesn't go on adventures or fall for handsome strangers. Her idea of excitement is spending the summer at her family's home in the Hamptons researching Shakespeare's influence on modern literature.He's made a vow to change his ways...Texas oilman Cooper Pearson made a bet with his father that he could survive one summer without the family's money or influence. Now he's an anonymous hired-hand exercising horses at a Hamptons stable-far removed from his typical four-star summer vacation.A chance meeting on the beach ignites a moment of excitement that Violet has experienced many times, but only in the musty pages she has studied. Will she have the courage to see how this real-life story ends?If you enjoy secret identity movies like My Secret Billionaire or The Prince and Me, you'll enjoy this full-length, sweet romantic comedy with an HEA and no cliffhangers. What readers are saying about: When You Kiss Me"This book had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"This series is just a hoot!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"The antics that Vi and Dotty get into dragging Coop along with them was so funny..." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars

USA Today Bestseller Melinda Curtis deliversanother installment of Summer Kisses, an irresistibly funny, fake date, sweet romantic comedy about the Summer family, featuring Grandma Dotty. "If you are in need of an enjoyable, light-hearted fun romance, this is the book for you!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars Her squeaky clean reputation... Junior state congresswoman and heiress Lily Summer wants to combat childhood hunger in her district, but to do so she needs to raise a million dollars and donors are hard to come by. His playboy ways... Fourth generation actor Judson Hambly wants to direct, but no one will back his production, seemingly because he has an aversion to settling down. Big money is within their grasp... Lily and Judson can earn the money they need by attending a reality TV star's destination wedding as maid of honor and best man. The catch? Lily had a falling out with the bride-to-be a decade ago and has to bring Judson as her date! She'll need to put all of her political skills to work if she's going to pull off this million-dollar date without tarnishing her career or losing her heart. If you enjoy fake date romcoms like The Proposal and The Wedding Date, you'll enjoy this full-length, sweet romantic comedy with an HEA and no cliffhangers. What readers are saying about Kiss Me at Midnight: "The characters are engaging, the dialogue is sassy and the story is amazing. Melinda Curtis kept me entertained. I can't wait for Violet's romance." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"This is another terrific addition to this series. I enjoyed catching up with the Summer sisters and Grandma Dotty again." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"Each book in The Kissing Test series is better than the previous one." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars

An enemies to lovers, small town, sweet romance about the journey to overcome life's obstacles from USA Today Bestselling Author Melinda Curtis. "I couldn't put down their story until all was resolved. Great read!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars She's had a set-back.A devastating car accident cost Tracy Jackson nearly everything, including a high-profile advertising job in San Francisco. Still recovering from her injuries, Tracy returns to the slow-paced life in small town Harmony Valley and finds a job as a coffee barista in Martin's Bakery. When a handsome, smooth-talking travel writer shows up, ostensibly to highlight the charm of the town's quirky Harvest Festival, the locals are thrilled. Harmony Valley has been undiscovered for so long that the town population has nearly dwindled down to nothing. But a set-back doesn't mean she's a push-over.When Tracy realizes the charming travel writer is known for his sarcastic, lampooning style, she leaps to the town's defense, determined to undermine the scammer's efforts and protect those she loves, despite her injuries. Fans of movies about recovery and triumph over life-altering injuries, like The Rider, will love this uplifting, heartwarming, sweet romance with a happily ever after. Readers love A Small Town Romance: "The character development is good. The plot is balanced between the humor and the serious, and I found myself regretting that it was over." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "I love this series. It has heart. Melinda Curtis always delivers." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "This is a new Melinda Curtis favorite for me." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "If you've had a bad day or just want a quick, entertaining read that will leave you happy..." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars

This book is for writers facing the dreaded...nothing.Story comes in all shapes and sizes and most likely will not make an appearance on the page as a fully-formed three-act story. There will be holes and blank pages. Possibly blinking cursors.This book will help you keep at it.In these pages, you'll find hacks for putting story on the page. For great beginnings. For those hard to bear middles. For those ever-so-satisfying endings. What's presented here is a method to keep your momentum moving forward - a pinch of this, a sprinkle of that, a whole lot of what works. Because most writers know - and beginning writers will soon find out - that almost every story is different. Some are easy. Some are hard. Some want to lay there like unrisen bread dough. And some explode with an unnamed source of energy.This book also presents a step-by-step process to guide you from start to finish, no matter what genre you write in.Plot. Character. Conflict. World Building. Theme. Story Structure. Genre considerations. All are discussed and presented in a user-friendly manner. Included inside are examples of these concepts from movies and TV that help you understand them with the goal of applying that knowledge to your work.Bonus content! A winning formula to write a fast draft with an example from one of the 70 stories published by the author.No matter where an author is in the writing journey, this book offers strategies to cross the finish line.

Tara Bonander's life is always derailing, but never like this. In the past 24 hours, she's lost her job, her New York apartment, and her fiancé. Now, when her life is at an all time low, she's due to spend the weekend as a lonely bachelorette bridesmaid with her newly engaged sister Scarlet. She'll do anything to find a date.Celebrity photographer Bill Blakely needs a big payday, the kind that a photo of the Runaway Bride would net him. But his only lead on the wedding is the bride's cousin, Tara Bonander, who occasionally has drinks at a bar in his neighborhood. When Tara asks Bill over drinks to be her date for a weekend wedding, it's a gift. She wants him to pretend to be her boyfriend. He wants to pretend he's only in it for the money. Can one uptown heiress fall for a paparazzi from the gutter? Or will reality take down this fake romance along with the Runaway Bride's wedding?

When Kevin broke her heart, Lexi left town... Now a political strategist, Lexi Townsend's career and love life are going nowhere. When she's offered a plum holiday assignment-an ideal candidate with deep pockets, someone who could make the leap from local to national politics-she begins to dream about better days.Who needs love when she has a career? But Lexi's candidate is Kevin O'Malley, professional golfer and hometown hero, the same guy who shattered her heart in high school. Can Lexi set aside the past and put them both on track for the national stage? And can this couple find the forever kind of love a second time around in Christmas Mountain?

Long before Scarlet became a Bonander of the New York Bon-Bon Chocolate Bonanders, she grew up on the wild side of the Appalachians. Now this country girl turned debutante needs to head to the wilds of Ecuador to find her cousin's missing groom in time for the wedding. All she's got is her toothless Uncle Cletus, a beat-up motorcycle with a sidecar, and the sexy best man, Mike Romero to conquer rough terrain, territorial spiders, and one nasty drug lord who bears a striking resemblance to Mike.

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.He's there to stop a wedding. Maxwell Bonander's sister has been engaged six times in the past five years without any marriages. Tiff has the worst taste in men. So when she announces she's marrying a man after only knowing him two days, Max knows he's got to stop the ceremony.She's there as a bridesmaid. Lorelei Spencer thinks Tiff has finally found the right man. When Tiff asks Lorelei to keep Max occupied, she takes her job seriously. Too seriously.They never expected to wake up married. Can this unlikely couple unravel what happened in Vegas? And when they uncover the truth, will they really want an annulment?

What not to expect when you're expecting...Becca Thomas is thrilled to be pregnant, even though it means bringing up her baby alone. At thirty-eight, this may be her last chance to have a child. She doesn't expect to see her baby daddy again, nor does she believe the free-wheeling younger man wants to be a father.Wrong!Aiden Rodas may live the life of a devil-may-care wildland firefighter, but he's not going to walk away from his responsibilities, no matter how unexpected they are. His challenge now is making Becca see that their child needs both of them.A traditional, clean romance with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

It doesn't matter if your writing style is planned, spontaneous, or somewhere in between--it's the character and conflict that sells! Character and conflict hook in studio execs, hold an editor's attention, and draw in readers, compelling them to turn the page. So what is the secret sauce? How can you hack into believable and compelling characters? By using a tried and true psychological principle adapted for writers by Melinda Curtis, an award-winning, USA Today bestseller of over 35 books and novellas.In this book, you'll find the basics of character and conflict, along with a multi-faceted psychological principle that can be used to create characters who need to grow and change. Inside are numerous tips to create and deepen character and conflict from the beginning of your story to the end. You'll discover hacks to give your characters depth and provide them with behavioral bumpers so they act consistently throughout your story, until they grow and change in an emotionally satisfying finale. As an added bonus, there are over 100 examples from movies and television that illustrate how to use each principle. That means adding this book to your writing toolbox will help you sell to editors and studio execs, and create compelling reads that bring audiences back for more.

A heartwarming, best friends to forever, small town romance about the courage to let go and risk loving again from USA Today Bestselling author Melinda Curtis. "What a completely engaging and heartfelt story!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars They were best friends.When Shelby Hawkley's husband was alive, Gage Jamero was a best friend to both of them. Why wouldn't he be? The three of them grew up together in Harmony Valley, a small town nestled in a northern corner of rural Sonoma County. But things changed.Now widowed, Shelby has moved back to her sleepy hometown to care for her grandfather and work for the small winery that's opening. She hasn't seen Gage in a long time. So, when he shows up, she's expecting their friendship to pick up where it left off. Best buds, right? Can she stand for things to change again?Nothing is going well for Shelby. Not the wine harvest, not her grandfather's health, and not the diminishing days until Gage is scheduled to leave for Kentucky. Maybe Shelby's making all the wrong choices this summer, maybe she isn't over Nick's death, and maybe she should keep Gage in the friend zone. Fans of friends to forever love romance and movies like P.S. I Love You and Catch and Release will love this emotional, heartwarming, clean romance with a cast of quirky town characters and a happily ever after. Readers love A Small Town Summer: "I LOVE the town of Harmony Valley and all the townsfolk in it. You don't just get to know the main characters, you get to know the whole town. I love the small town atmosphere... This town is like a warm blanket on your soul. I need more!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "Oh, this was such a lovely story! It's such a sweet tale of loss, friendship, and love." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "This book was seriously hard to put down and I definitely wasn't disappointed with how it ended." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars "This is such an emotional story. I'll admit that I cried." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars

This second chance romance is a part of the 12 Days of Heartwarming Christmas - a 2018 clean romance anthology from some of your favorite Harlequin Heartwarming romance authors.Can this Scrooge learn to put on a good Christmas?Dominick Decker's wife's last wish was that he and their daughter Jessie move to her hometown - Christmas Town, Maine. As a second generation repairman he doesn't understand why Christmas is so important to everyone in Christmas Town. You put up a tree, buy some gift cards and order a pre-made turkey dinner from the grocery store, which leaves plenty of time for service calls in between. What more does he need to do? A lot if he's to give his daughter the Christmas she deserves.Enter Ruby Caldwell, owner of Santa School and trainer of "professional" Santas. Now that she's been laid off from her day job, she needs to take Santa School from a part-time seasonal hobby to a full-time year-round operation. That requires a positive mindset, along with a healthy dose of creativity. Step one: Santa School for Busy Elves to train single dads like Dominick to put on a great Christmas by themselves. All she needs are a few willing dads and a don't-quit smile. With a challenge like Dominick, let's hope Ruby's smile holds out this holiday season.

USA Today Bestseller Melinda Curtis deliversanother installment of Summer Kisses, an irresistibly funny, enemies-to-lovers, sweet romantic comedy about the Summer family, featuring Grandma Dotty. "Such a fun book! You've got humor, awkward romance, Ecuador, chocolate, revenge, crazy motorcycle rides and nuns!" Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars The chocolate wars... Botanist Dr. Aubrey Summer has two goals for her trip to Ecuador - fulfill her bridesmaid duties and confront billionaire Marcos Alfaro about his efforts to steal her work. The wedding is being held at a hotel owned by Marcos and he's rumored to be a guest. Along the way, Aubrey is distracted by a handsome man named Nino, a former employee with a crush, and Grandma Dotty, who's got romance on her bucket list. More at stake... Marcos "Nino" Alfaro didn't accumulate his wealth playing by the rules. Yes, he hired Dr. Summer's assistant, but the principled young man won't divulge the secrets to growing a richer strain of cocoa. When Nino meets Dr. Summer, it's clear what he needs to do - use romance to learn more about her research. After all, he's got to turn around the chocolate company he just purchased. There are millions at stake, not to mention his pride and - surprisingly - his heart. If you enjoy enemies-to-lovers romcoms like You've Got Mail, you'll enjoy this full-length, sweet romantic comedy with an HEA and no cliffhangers. What readers are saying about And Then He Kissed Me: "Melinda Curtis made me laugh as well as shed a few tears." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"Y'all this series is a clean read and you really can't go wrong with these fun books." Goodreads Reviewer, 5 Stars"I love this series! It's fluff, but it's fun fluff." Goodreads Reviewer, 4.5 Stars

Widow Marnie Haywood wants Christmas hosting her in-laws to go smoothly. And it would - if her handsome neighbor and his friendly St. Bernard would stop coming over, mooching food, and stealing kisses.

His job or his family...Jackson Garrett is a Hot Shot, one of an elite team who fights forest fires. More than once he's saved the lives of the people on his crew. And more than once, Jackson knows the reason he's made it out alive is Lexie - his good luck charm and one true love.A marriage in peril...Lexie Garrett doesn't feel as if she ever had a husband. With Jackson always away, she's practically raised their daughter alone. There's no doubt Lexie loves Jackson. But will he be there for her the way he says he will? Now and forever?A traditional, clean romance with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.Hot Shot firefighters are brave. They battle forest fires on the ground with little more than shovels and chainsaws. It's physical work and a young man's game. But there comes a time when youth gives way to maturity, when priorities shift, and the door opens to love. The Mountain Firefighter series follows four firefighting friends as they grow, change, and transition to their thirties - although they might never truly settle down!

Dancer Allie Jameson is home this Christmas... Not just for the holidays but to regroup and relaunch her career after the Broadway show she was in was canceled. Maybe she'll go back to New York. Maybe she'll try dancing on the West Coast. But one thing was certain. She isn't staying in Christmas Mountain after the new year. While Allie ponders her options, she takes a job waitressing at the Sleigh Café. Allie knows things in Christmas Mountain never change...except they are changing. At the Sleigh Café, someone's leaving uplifting Christmas notes for patrons and staff, including Allie. And for the first time ever, Allie can't look at her best friend from high school - Nick Stocking - without thinking about mistletoe kisses. It's all so confusing. Except it's not. Because no matter what's changed, Allie will leave town on January first...or will she? If you enjoy the best friends to lovers trope and movies like When Harry Met Sally or 13 Going on 30, you'll love this full-length, clean, heartwarming romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers.

A bachelor's life...Because of a not-so-happy childhood, Logan McCall never wanted kids. His sister's dying wish was that he raise her twin girls. Paralyzed by grief, Logan turns the girls over to their deadbeat dad. He's regretted that decision ever since, but what can he do? They're gone.A nanny with dreams...Nanny Thea Gayle is just trying to make ends meet while she works on her PhD. When her employer goes missing and the only family member she can find is the twins' Uncle Logan, she takes the girls from Seattle to Silver Bend, Idaho. But once there, she's not sure Logan is up to caring for the girls or his elderly aunt. What's a nanny with a school deadline looming to do?A traditional, clean romance with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

The third instalment in the small-town Sunshine Valley series by USA Today bestselling author Melinda Curtis -- perfect for fans of Debbie Mason and Annie Rains!

Bestselling author Melinda Curtis delivers her second heartfelt small-town contemporary romance in her Sunshine Valley series that is perfect for fans of RaeAnne Thayne, Debbie Mason, and Shelia Roberts.

Forever is thrilled to introduce the first book in a new small-town contemporary romance series by USA Today bestselling author Melinda Curtis, perfect for fans of Debbie Mason and Annie Rains!

A Magazine Celebrating RomanceISSUE 7: FEBRUARY 2018Lezli Robyn & Tina Smith, EditorsShahid Mahmud, PublisherHeart's Kiss is a bi-monthly romance magazine published by Heart's Nest Press, the romance imprint of Arc Manor, an award-winning independent publisher based in Maryland.The magazine has a mix of original and reprint stories, excerpts, serializations, columns and non-fiction, book recommendations and interviews with prominent personalities in the industry.IN THIS ISSUE:Interview: Jayne Ann KrentzExcerpt: Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann KrentzStories by: L. Penelope, Melinda Curtis, Petronella Glover, Meghan Ewald, Andrea Dale, Alia MahmudNon-fiction by: Julie Pitzel, Alice Faris, Lezli RobynSerialization: Warden of Magic (part 1) by Anna J. StewartRecommended Books: C.S. DeAvilla