Tara

My mother only wanted me to learn one lesson growing up Men are trash. Her father left her, and then my father left us. Being raised by her and my grandmother, I was surrounded by the reminder to be independent and guard my heart. After my one and only experience with a boy in college fell flatter than a pancake, I realized they were right and I was content to live the life of a twenty-six-year-old cat lady.

My brother’s teammates know not to touch me — but that doesn’t stop me from daring Jaxson Brittain to be the first to break the rule. After one steamy night in Austin, I’m all too aware of the hot, broody defenseman with icy blue eyes and ink sprawling his muscular arms. He was the one my brother assigned to keep me safe — and I had far too much fun tempting him to be the one to put me in danger.

Help Wanted: Grumpy Mountain Man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting in the form of communication and nosey brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request. I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life. But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands on my lap. Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.

Ever heard the one about the rom-com princess who gets swept off her feet by her fake fiancé? Yeah, that’s not my story. I’m an actress whose reputation is currently circling the drain, thanks to a string of public relationship disasters. All I want is to adopt a baby and leave my tabloid trainwreck days behind me. When the adoption agency doubts my ability to provide a stable home life, I agree to a fake engagement with a guy who screamed “PR-approved.” Easy enough—until Archer Corbett blows it all to pieces.

The headline says it all, and my bosses are over the moon when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in my lap. Of course, they aren’t aware that I’ve already met Vince Cool at an all-star gala—and that we were at each other’s throats the entire time.

Look, I've had it bad for the girl with all the curves next door forever. She turned me down in high school and since I'm not a total douchecanoe, I lusted after her all by myself in my shower, and we stayed just friends for years. Now she's the adorkable librarian next door, and I'm the star quarterback of the best pro football team in the league. So when she asks me to be her fake date to her all-girls school reunion, I am totally down to show her off to the mean girls who bullied her back then so they can see just how incredible she is.