Showing results by author "Monica Murphy" in All Categories

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.

I've moved through life doing what's expected of me. I'm the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and survived. The one who devoted herself to her family's business empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I. When Zachary got a promotion, however, he left me in the dust. Maybe it's for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me.

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.

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.

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.

I’ve had a thing for Gavin Maddox ever since I was a freshman, but it’s a mission doomed to fail. Of all the guys I could have picked on campus, I had to go too far with the quarterback, my brother’s best friend. We’ve spent the last two years avoiding each other. It’s not that easy when you have the same friends, not to mention I can’t forget the way it felt to be with him. But I can be civil. Polite. Detached.

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.

Young heiress Scarlett Lancaster is turning eighteen and her dad has promised to hire a famous musician for her party . . .Delight turns to disappointment when it’s revealed that her dad hired Tate Ramsey, former lead singer of a band that hasn’t been popular for years. Tate, after years of alcohol- and drug-fueled partying, is sober and ready for a comeback and blows the audience away with his performance—though Scarlett herself still isn’t impressed. But when they talk after he leaves the stage, their encounter ends in a kiss that surprises them both—and immediately goes viral.

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.

Spencer Donato. My brother’s best friend. My dirty little secret. We fell for each other at Lancaster Prep. Sneaking around. Not wanting anyone to find out. He was my first love, my protector, my knight in shining armor. We were made for each other, and I truly believed he was my forever. But then I did the unthinkable, and betrayed him in the worst possible way. I thought I lost him for good … Until I saw him at my brother’s wedding. Now he’s older. Crueler. Unbearably handsome. We’re drawn to each other still, but will Spencer be there for me when I need him the most?

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.

Twenty-two-year-old heiress Rachel Henderson has one goal this summer: hide out at her family’s lake house and recover from the most mortifying breakup Manhattan society has ever witnessed. Sun, swimming, and zero paparazzi—what could go wrong?

The tables turn when the girl August Lancaster couldn’t stand at Lancaster Prep shows up at the same university he attends. She is suddenly everywhere. And is determined to remind him exactly who she is . . .

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.

Carolina Lancaster n'aurait jamais cru revoir West, ce garçon au sourire désarmant qu'elle a rencontré lors d'une chaude nuit d'été à Paris. Pourtant, dès son premier jour à Lancaster Prep, il est là, bien qu'il lui ait dit avoir terminé ses études. West est le seul à pouvoir la toucher sans qu'elle prenne la fuite, le seul qui ait réussi à briser la glace qui enserrait son cœur, qu'elle croyait insensible. Mais céder à ses sentiments pourrait tout compliquer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.