He knows if she's been bad or good.
Amidst the sugarplums and mistletoe, fashion stylist Julia Bennett is every inch a scrooge. Known for her ice-queen ways, she's having a meltdown over a botched business deal and an upcoming milestone birthday. Add the pressure of forced holiday cheer, and she's ready to dive into the spiked eggnog and not come out until summer.
Warren Stone, president and owner of the Sugar Rush Candy Company, is determined to make Julia slow down and enjoy the holidays. As her friend and confidante for thirteen years, he knows her better than anyone. But when decking the halls leads them to an explosive, sexy night, everything suddenly changes.
And when Warren decides Julia is all he wants for Christmas, will she risk their longtime friendship for the gift of love?
Excerpt
“Now step into my office.”
Julia blinked at his hard tone, her
gaze shifting to his closed office door. “I beg your pardon?”
Warren opened the door. “In. Now.”
Her features tightened with
resistance just as the elevator doors opened and several employees emerged,
their voices rising in chatter. Julia crossed the hallway in front of them, her
shoulders rigid. He caught a whiff of Chanel No. 5 as she passed him.
He entered the office behind her and
closed the door, flicking the lock shut.
“You are not to take out personal
crap on my employees,” he said.
“That’s not how I run this company.”
Julia’s lips compressed. “Odd that
you’ve never before questioned my treatment of your employees. And it wasn’t personal. She needed to know she’d
screwed up.”
“Announcing the holiday party early
is not screwing up,” Warren replied evenly. “You’re pissed off because you’ve
had a shitty week, you have too much on your plate, an old bucket list has
thrown you off your game, and you don’t know what to do with the fact that we
fucked the other night.”
Two spots of color appeared on her
cheeks. “I seem to recall that what I did
with that fact was tell you it wasn’t going to happen again. After which
you informed me in excellent caveman style that I was wrong. You seem to forget
I’m never wrong.”
About
this, you are.
He bit back the words. He hadn’t
become the president of Sugar Rush by throwing his weight around. He knew how
to bide his time, work his way into getting what he wanted. And damned if he
didn’t want her more with every
passing second.
“Well?” Julia put her hands on her
hips and glared at him. “Are we done here?”
Under her make-up, purplish smudges
shadowed her eyes. Brackets of tension lined her mouth. His jaw tightened.
“You had a migraine yesterday,” he
said.
“What the fuck do you care?” Julia
snapped.
Warren’s hands flexed. He was used
to her quick-fire cursing, all the more effective when delivered by a woman who
looked like royalty, but he didn’t like being the recipient of her wrath.
“I’m putting Mia Donovan in charge
of the Sugar Rush holiday party,” he said.
“You’re firing me?” Julia stared at him, her eyes widening. “Are you
serious?”
“Yes.” He steeled himself against
her shock and the knowledge that he was hurting her. “You’ve planned it for the
past ten years, and it’s time to hand it over to someone else.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Yes, I do. Sugar Rush is my
company. This is also the event where I’ll be announcing my retirement. You’re
not going to plan it.”
“Because I have too much on my
plate?” Julia stopped in front of the windows, her arms crossed and her fiery
gaze fixed on him. “Thanks for your concern, Daddy, but I assure you I can
handle everything I take on.”
“That’s why you’re such a success.
It’s also why your headaches are getting worse.”
“You are not my fucking doctor.”
“Stop swearing.”
She barked out a laugh. “You need to
rethink this retirement thing, Warren. It’s making you soft.”
Given the state of his dick, he was
anything but soft.
“If you won’t delegate your
projects, I will,” he said.
“Because you can’t stop being the
boss, even if you think otherwise.” Julia paced angrily to the desk, her eyes
flaring with blue ice. “Why are you
retiring, Warren? Everyone knows you’re the power behind the throne, much as
you’ve let the boys take all the glory. Three months—hell, one month from now
when you have nothing to do and no one to order around, you’re going to wonder
why you made such a bad decision.”
Warren’s jaw clenched. He was sick
of getting pushback from all sides. “I’ve been in business my entire life. I
know what I’m doing.”
“So do I, dammit,” Julia retorted.
“I don’t need you looking out for me.”
“I will always look out for you.”
She came to a halt, her whole body
stilling. By contrast, Warren’s heartbeat kicked up, sudden heat flooding his
veins. Their gazes met across the room, a crackling electric current firing
through the air.
Julia took a breath, her breasts
heaving beneath her jacket.
“Goddamn you, Warren Stone,” she
whispered.
“I told you to stop swearing.” He
advanced, his own breath increasing, his hands fisting and unfisting at his
sides.
Rebellion tightened her features.
“And if I don’t?”
“You sure you want to find out?”
He closed the distance between them,
his lust flaring like a match to dry leaves.
What
the fuck was going on with them?
The question flared like a comet
through his mind and died just as fast—because he didn’t care about the answer.
His mind was consumed with the thought of tasting her red lips again, sweet
like cherries, spicy like peppers. Her mouth could deliver an insult as sharp
and searing as a blade, but he knew—had always known, even if he’d smothered
the knowledge—that the sounds issuing from Julia Bennett’s mouth could also be
smooth, hot murmurs of lust that rushed straight to his blood. Weakening him of
all thought, all control, inciting him with the urge to—
He grabbed her shoulders, hauling
her soft, slender body against him. He’d always loved the contrast of Julia, the sharp-tongued, acidic queen and the
relentlessly devoted aunt. The rigorous boss who shot orders like arrows, and
the loyal friend who bought Hailey’s favorite peanut butter, sent care packages
to Gavin Knight when he was deployed in Iraq, spent hours on end with Evan at
the hospital.
He stared down at her fine features,
pale skin, and wide blue eyes that he’d seen almost every day of his life for
the past thirteen years—and suddenly now it felt as if he were looking at her
for the first time. Had he never noticed that tiny birthmark right beneath her
left eye? Or the silver flecks in her irises, like falling snow? Or the perfect
curve in her upper lip, tempting him to put his tongue there and—
Oh, he’d noticed all right. He’d
just tried to pretend he hadn’t.
“What the hell am I going to do with
you, Julia?” he muttered.
“Fire me, apparently.” Her tone was
bitter, her eyes blue fire.
Her gaze flickered involuntarily to
his mouth, her lips parting. He slipped his hand beneath her chin, lifting her
face to his. His heart jackhammered. Her breath brushed against his mouth, the
familiar scent of her—Chanel No. 5, lavender soap, pure Julia—suddenly exotic
and tantalizing.
“I’m going to let you go,” he said
slowly, “and take two steps back. I want you to reach under your skirt and take
your underwear off… if you’re wearing any.”
Review
I’ve become quite a fan of the Sugar Rush men, and the
latest installment – “The Sweet Life” – definitely did not disappoint!
Warren Stone is the patriarch of the Stone Family – candy royalty
in the coastal town of Indigo Bay. Following the tragic death of Rebecca Stone 12
years ago, Warren and his sons (many of whom we have met in previous books in
this series by Nina Lane) have worked tirelessly to keep the Stone family, and
the Stone Candy Company together, deriving much of their strength from Julia Bennett,
Rebecca’s younger sister. “The Sweet Life” is Warren and Julia’s story.
It’s certainly easy to see where the Stone men get their virility.
Warren may be ready to retire from the family corporation, but let’s just say,
that’s the only aspect of his life where he’s considering slowing down. After years
of devotion and friendship (not to mention sexual tension), Warren and Julia are
ready to check some things of each other’s bucket list.
“The Sweet Life” is the perfect blend of sweet and serious,
love and lust. I practically read it in one sitting!
New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Nina Lane writes hot, sexy romances about professors, bad boys, candy makers, and protective alpha males who find themselves consumed with love for one woman alone. Originally from California, Nina holds a PhD in Art History and an MA in Library and Information Studies, which means she loves both research and organization. She also enjoys traveling and thinks St. Petersburg, Russia is a city everyone should visit at least once. Although Nina would go back to college for another degree because she's that much of a bookworm and a perpetual student, she now lives the happy life of a full-time writer.
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About Lauren Blakely:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 85 times, and in March she'll release WANDERLUST, a breathtaking new romance that will sweep you away. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
About Lauren Blakely:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 85 times, and in March she'll release WANDERLUST, a breathtaking new romance that will sweep you away. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! 
Respect - An Infidelity Stand-alone Novel
“The making of a man”
Standing at what I believe is the precipice of my life, I, Oren Demetri, was too young to understand that it wasn’t and too old to imagine that it couldn’t be.
The already hefty accumulation of my successes and failures, bravery and fears, and rewards and suffering, had brought me to this point. It was hard to contemplate the things I’d done, and yet, in reality I’d only begun to learn the possibilities.
I suppose that’s how it was for me at twenty-nine years of age on the brink of all I’d ever wanted without fully realizing the price I would pay. Yet in that moment, I knew there would be no cost too great or sacrifice I wouldn’t make. I had no idea how far-reaching that moment of self-discovery would be; because as the congregation’s murmurs quieted, bleeding into silence and allowing the thump of my heart to be the only sound I heard, I was a man filled with love and adoration, emotions in stark contrast to those I needed in the world I’d built or the one I was about to enter.
Angelina Costello was my dream and now my reality. I’d worked diligently to move beyond the actuality of being a dockworker’s son to becoming a self-made, successful entrepreneur, all in an effort to earn the right to call her my own. I’d overcome servitude to others, collecting their paychecks and lowly praises, to being the one who signed the paychecks and offered the accolades when they were rightfully earned.
The world was my oyster and walking toward me on the arm of her uncle was my pearl. I’d found her amongst the empty shells life had offered. There was no need to pry open another possibility. Angelina was all I wanted. Yet my path was uncharted. There was more for me to earn, lose, and willingly give.
The top of that list was respect.
This stand-alone novel may be read without reading the Infidelity series.
From New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes a stand-alone novel based from her beloved Infidelity series. With classic Aleatha Romig twists, turns, deceptions, and devotions, this new epic romantic thriller will delve into a world where family takes on new meaning and even the inhabitants are suspicious of the next chapter.
Have you been Aleatha'd?
Aleatha Romig is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author who lives in Indiana, USA. She grew up in Mishawaka, graduated from Indiana University, and is currently living south of Indianapolis. Aleatha has raised three children with her high school sweetheart and husband of over thirty years. Before she became a full-time author, she worked days as a dental hygienist and spent her nights writing. Now, when she's not imagining mind-blowing twists and turns, she likes to spend her time a with her family and friends. Her other pastimes include reading and creating heroes/anti-heroes who haunt your dreams and bring your imagination to life!
Aleatha released her first novel, CONSEQUENCES, in August of 2011. CONSEQUENCES became a bestselling series with five novels and two companions released from 2011 through 2015. The compelling and epic story of Anthony and Claire Rawlings has graced more than half a million e-readers. Aleatha released the first of her series TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE, INSIDIOUS, in the fall of 2014. These stand alone thrillers continue Aleatha's twisted style with an increase in heat.
In the fall of 2015, Aleatha moved head first into the world of dark romantic suspense with the release of BETRAYAL, the first of her five novel INFIDELITY series that has taken the reading world by storm. She also began her traditional publishing career with Thomas and Mercer. Her books INTO THE LIGHT and AWAY FROM THE DARK were published through this mystery/thriller publisher in 2016.
In the spring of 2017, Aleatha released her first stand-alone, fun, and sexy romantic comedy with PLUS ONE, followed by the sweet stand-alone, ONE NIGHT.
Aleatha is a "Published Author's Network" member of the Romance Writers of America and PEN America. She is represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, 
About Lauren Blakely:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, 
USA Today bestselling author 
