Showing results by author "Monica Murphy" in All Categories

One moment I'm the forgotten daughter of one of the most wealthy families in the country, and the next I'm the blushing bride in an arranged marriage. My fate is sealed in my wedded union with a complete stranger. In public, Perry Constantine is the life of the party. Easygoing. Adored. In private, he's brooding. Dark. Angry. But so am I. It's a contest of wills to see who will break in the bedroom first, and while I try to remain strong, I find myself craving the very man I swore to hate. My husband.

Our marriage may look like a fairytale, but outside forces threaten to tear us apart. Don't they realize that nothing will keep me apart from Charlotte? Not my family. Not hers either. What started out as a relationship in name only has evolved into something much more. Something deeper. And when Charlotte is taken from me, I launch into action, determined to rescue her. She's mine. Nothing is going to stop me from being with her. Not a damn thing.

I didn't plan to marry a reclusive heiress. Lucky for me, I find myself attracted to my beautiful new bride. Our arranged marriage connects two powerful companies. That we're compatible between the sheets is a bonus, but I didn't bargain on her ex showing up at the wedding reception uninvited. That pushed me right over the edge. I protect what's mine, and Charlotte is now mine, whether she likes it or not. But even as I'm drawn closer to my new wife, there's still a threat looming out there.

Jake Callahan. Prince of the popular crowd. My mortal enemy. Gorgeous. All the girls want him. Quarterback. All the boys want to be his friend. He’s the most popular boy in the senior class. And he hates me. Or so I thought. What I mistook for hatred turns out to be…interest. There’s that thin line, right? It makes me crazy. I can’t stand it. Attraction, chemistry, whatever it is, I also can’t resist it. And neither can he.

Wren Beaumont is many things. Beautiful. Smart. Sweet. Innocent. At Lancaster Prep, the girls love her. They all want to be her friend. Only I see Wren for who she really is. A repressed little virgin who keeps her feelings locked up so tight she’s probably close to bursting. She thinks she’s above us all. Even me. I shouldn’t be drawn to her. She’s not my type. Until we’re forced to work together in class and realize we might have more things in common than we originally thought.

Stella Ricci is bored. Her overprotective family barely let her out of their sight, despite the fact she’s a grown woman. Yes, she loves her job at her family’s café, and she’s the best barista in the entire Monterey Peninsula, but is that enough? She’s thinking no. But what else can she do? Enter Carter Abbott. Burnt out after the never-ending grind of selling high-end real estate in Los Angeles, he’s returned home, unsure of what to do next. He needs someplace to crash temporarily until he gets back on his feet.

Caroline Abbott loves her job - helping engaged couples pick out the perfect save-the-date cards and invitations for their dream wedding. Working at Noteworthy means she has to deal with the occasional bridezilla, but Caroline’s always up for the challenge. Until one particular bridezilla, whose fiancé happens to be the boy Caroline shared her first kiss with, walks into the stationery store. Alexander Wilder is all grown up now, helping run his family’s successful luxury hotel chain, and is somehow even better looking than she remembers.

Kelsey Phillips is over the dating scene. All that time and energy perfecting your profile and taking just the right picture and articulating exactly what you’re looking for, only to get the same sleazy propositions? No, thanks. She’s doing just fine on her own, so there’s no point in a fruitless hunt for “the one” that doesn’t exist. Besides, she already has the perfect man in her life. Theo is the type of friend who’s always there for a laugh, a hug, or a drink - and no propositions.

Eli Bennett: quarterback at our biggest rival high school and my brother’s worst enemy. So why can’t I stop thinking about him? For one, he’s totally gorgeous, and boy, does he know it. He’s an arrogant trash talker who brings drama wherever he goes. And for some reason, he’s set his sights on me.

Candice Gaines loves Christmas. Not only does she bask in the twinkling lights, sing Christmas carols, and go crazy with the decorations, she’s also in the giving spirit - donating much of her time and wealth to various charities in the local area. Charlie Sullivan despises Christmas. Though it keeps his family afloat, considering they own Sullivan Family Christmas Tree Farm, the main provider for Christmas trees on the Monterey Peninsula. He’d much rather work among the trees than deal with people.

Whit Lancaster burst into my life like a storm. Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless, and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain. He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand.

Eleanor Murray is tired. Tired of going on awkward dates. Tired of meeting men who just aren’t that into her. Tired of being set up on blind dates by her well-meaning friends. She is a believer of true love, of finding that happily ever after, and she wants it. She deserves it. But at the rate she’s going, she’s pretty sure it’s never going to happen. Until a friend creates a profile for Eleanor on a new dating app. At first, she’s reluctant. But then she makes a connection on Rate a Date, and this gorgeous, confident guy almost seems too good to be true....

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself - gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she's already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Diego Garcia. Class bully. Football star. My boyfriend. I fell hard and fast for the resident bad boy, and he fell just as hard for me, too. We were the perfect couple, until things turned sour. Senior year and we’re both super busy. He has football. I have volleyball. Soon enough, I hear the rumors - Diego’s cheating on me. After everything we’ve been through, I’m devastated. Breaking up with him was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. He doesn’t love me. Besides, only a few more months of school, and then I’m going away to college.

Working at Bliss, Sarah Harrison deals with all sorts of...interesting clientele. Yet no one sparks her interest more than Jared Gaines, the ultra-rich, ultra-sexy businessman who frequents her shop, buying delicate little “gifts” for the women in his life. But one day, Jared sends Sarah a gift from Bliss. Then another - and another. So when Sarah walks into his office demanding to know why, he makes her an offer she somehow can’t refuse: be his fake girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother’s engagement party.

Ava Callahan. Love of my life. Wrecker of my soul. I would have sworn on anything that what we shared was real. But she broke my trust. And then my heart. I don’t think I can piece it back together without her, but I’m sure going to try. I’m better off on my own, anyway, right? Who needs girls when you have football? If only I believed that. Look, when you need someone in your life, you don’t want to let her go. And I can’t let go of Ava. I love her. She loves me. Nothing can convince me otherwise.

My first crush. My first kiss. The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time. Willingly. We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway as they avoid each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year.... The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored.

Transferring to UC Santa Mira is supposed to be my ultimate college experience—until housing falls through at the last minute. So when I overhear a group of guys complaining they need another roommate, I jump at the opportunity. They’re just football players. Even if one of them makes me weak in the knees, it doesn’t mean anything unless I let it. And I won’t. We want different things. Wanting each other doesn’t change that.

Knox Maguire is the king of our college campus, the star offensive tight end on the football team. He is the complete opposite of me in every way. I'm quiet. He's loud. I'm shy. He's definitely not. Everyone loves him. No one knows me. Fresh out of a breakup, I don't really trust him, and why should I? Knox is the ultimate player. When I become his English tutor, I tell myself we need to keep things between us strictly business. Watching my mother deal with my ex-athlete father long ago taught me to stay far away from that type of man. Yet Knox is impossible to resist.

Monica Murphy goes back to Lancaster Prep with a new generation of Lancasters, kicking it off with the daughter of Crew and Wren from the BookTok sensation A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime.