After Oscar Series

Conor: It starts with a drunken text pic. The kind I would normally never send. Only, instead of it going to the flirty hotel bartender, it goes to some random stranger who actually responds.

I tell myself an unexpected night of hot-as-hell back and forth is the perfect way to blow off a little steam while I’m in New York closing an important business deal. Little do I know the man on the other end of the line is none other than Wells Grange: the most controlling, egotistical, emotionless SOB I’ve ever met.

I spend my days squaring off against Wells in the boardroom, and my nights succumbing to the sexy stranger’s commanding texts in the bedroom. Within days, I’m falling for someone I shouldn’t, and I have to remind myself that none of this is real.

Wells: The first thing I notice about Conor Newell when he sits down in my highrise conference room is how delightfully nervous he is. Then I see his tie. The same geeky tie that’s held hostage on my phone. The one that belongs to my anonymous late night texter. And it changes everything.

I should confess. Tell the truth about who I am. Instead, I decide there’s no harm in flirting. After all, once our business is concluded, he’ll be out of my life for good.

The more I get to know Conor, however, the more I start to fall for him. Which is a problem, because I made a vow long ago to never let emotions interfere with my life, either business or personal. Except I can’t stop thinking about him night and day. If it’s only in my head, though, it doesn’t count.

After all, it’s not like we’re falling for each other in real life…

Scotty: When a gorgeous cop comes racing out of a building on 5th Avenue, hops in your horse-drawn carriage, and screams, “Go!” You go.

You don’t stop and ask for paperwork. Or a badge. Or an explanation of who you’re chasing. You simply follow his shouted orders and try not to kill anyone in the process.

At least, that’s what I did when it happened to me.

But then it turns out that the “cop” is none other than Roman Burke, Hollywood’s hottest star, and our little joy ride gets me fired. Now I’m broke, my horse has been evicted from her barn, and I’ve got nowhere to turn.

Roman: When you accidentally hijack a Central Park carriage trying to escape the paparazzi, get pulled over by the police, and your crisis manager insists you lay low for a while, you nod your head and go.

And when the cute carriage driver shows up on your front step, horse in tow, blaming you for losing his job, you agree to fix it. Even if that means hauling both him and his horse along with you on your Vermont getaway.

At least that’s what I did when it happened to me.

Unfortunately, trouble seems to stick to the sexy carriage driver like hot syrup on a hotter waffle, making my Vermont retreat anything but quiet.

Now the carriage driver is in my bed, unexpected guests are crawling out of the woodwork, and the paparazzi is on my tail. With chaos and scandal swarming around me, suddenly, it isn’t just my career on the line.

It’s my heart.

James: My assignment is simple: go to the Cape and seal the real estate deal for my most important client. No problem. I’m good at my job, I know how to close a sale, and this time won’t be any different.

Until I meet Sawyer, the sexy young bartender I accidentally kiss in the broom closet. Turns out, he’s one of the owners I’m here to negotiate with.

Okay, so that complicates things. As does the fact that he doesn’t want to sell. Or that we can’t keep our hands off each other despite being on opposite sides. And most of all… that I might be falling for him even though I know better. I’ve made the mistake of falling for a younger man before and I won’t do it again.

Sawyer: For me, family is everything, and nothing represents ours more than the Sea Sprite, the motel that’s been in my family for eighty years. Sure, others (*cough*James*cough*) may describe it as rundown or derelict or in desperate need of a wrecking ball. But I call it our legacy.

I’ve got plans — big plans to renovate the motel back to its vintage glory. The only thing standing in my way is James Allen, the fancy-schmancy lawyer from New York with his adorable smile, jaw-dropping assets, and his client’s millions of dollars.

James seems hellbent on destroying my future. But maybe there’s a way for us to build a new one together…

How in the world does a grumpy rancher end up falling for a rich dilettante?

Richard Dunning has it all: private school education, an exquisite designer wardrobe, a last name that ensures he’s invited to all the best parties, and a skincare regimen that’s to die for.

The only thing he doesn’t have is… well, a job. Or a home. Or money in the bank. Not since his dad cut him off.

So when his best frenemy approaches him with a bet—spend a month working as a cowhand on some godforsaken Wyoming ranch in exchange for his dream job—he’s a little too proud and a lot too desperate to say no.

But from the moment Richard and his rhinestone cowboy hat show up at the Silver Fork Ranch, nothing is as expected.

Not the beautiful vistas, not the terrifying horses, not the friendly people, not the epic quantities of cow manure, and definitely not Boone Hammond, the rugged rancher whose eyes are a little too intense, whose expectations are a little too high, and whose kisses are… a lot too tempting.

But when his month on the ranch comes to a close, Richard must choose: return to the safe, luxurious life he thought he wanted… or risk everything for the love he’s been IN SEARCH OF all along.

Have you heard the expression “twelve times a groomsman, never a groom”? Neither had I… until it suddenly became clear that every man I dated found their One True Love in the person they dated after me.

Now I’m writing Best Man speeches for my former boyfriends twice a month, the “After Oscar” thing has become a legend, and I have finally accepted that Oscar Overton is nobody’s Happily Ever After.

Which is fine.

Between running my investment company, providing for Frank, my emotional support hedgehog, and keeping my enthusiastic family from getting in my business, my life is plenty busy. The last thing on my mind is a relationship.

Until Hugh Linzee.

One hot night with the gorgeous wedding photographer somehow turns into a text conversation I just can’t quit, but I’m determined to keep my distance. Hugh has ideas… ideas about romance and fireworks and capital-L love… and I care about him too much to let him get those ideas about me.

Fate keeps throwing us together, though. After an accidental all-night phone call and a convenient wedding run-in, suddenly I find myself agreeing to be his fake boyfriend, and distance quickly becomes a thing of the past.

But how long until Hugh figures out he’ll only get his HEA… After Oscar?