ANTHOLOGIES

Mother, Please! Anthology

by Brenda Novak, Jill Shalvis and Alison Kent

What's a daughter to do?

Three brand-new stories...three exasperating moms.

Abby Ashton's roommate-from-hell...her mother. If she doesn't get her parents back together, she'll go crazy. So Abby schemes to get them to Mexico with her, hoping the vacation will lead to romance. And it does – for Abby and race-car driver "Gunner" Stevens.

Tall, dark and charming Jason Lawrence keeps visiting Mel Anders's veterinary clinic – with everything from a drooling St. Bernard to a potbelly pig. And the man doesn't even seem to like animals. Hmm...Mel is mighty suspicious – but she never suspects her mom....

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Excerpt

What's the matter?" Gunner grinned. "Nervous?"

April tried to make out his expression, hoping for some clue as to why he'd bother bringing her out here, where they were all alone, but came up empty. "Of course not. I'm perfectly relaxed. I just don't see the point of continuing to act our parts when no one can see us anymore."

"I think you can use the practice," he stated flatly.

April stopped long enough to take off her sandals. It was getting downright cold, but she liked the soft, grainy feel of the sand between her toes, enjoyed the smell of the salt air. She didn't travel enough, she realized. This was truly beautiful. "What do you mean?"

"No one's going to believe you even like me if you jump every time I brush your arm," he said. "Or slide over to the opposite side of your seat when I sit down next to you. A couple who is falling in love moves toward each other. They touch at every available opportunity because they crave the physical contact like their bodies crave air. They have trouble even looking at anyone else in the room."

April swallowed a dreamy sigh. That was the kind of love she longed for, the kind of love she was beginning to believe, for her, would never exist. "I admit you're doing a much better job of pretending than I am," she said. "But intimacy isn't my strong suit. I don't lie well. And we already know that you have a lot more experience with physical relationships than I do."

He pulled her to a stop and faced her, standing only a few inches away. "You're a scientist, April."

"So?"

"So experiment."

April was halfway convinced he was joking. But he didn't smile.

"You need to get comfortable with me," he said, and he had a point. Surely if she could relax, the next few days would pass much quicker and easier.

Taking a deep breath, she tilted her head back expectantly. "So we're coming to the lesson you wanted to teach me? Okay, I'll go along with that. Go ahead and kiss me." She squeezed her eyes closed and puckered up.

She waited, but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she found him watching her with a quizzical expression. "Aren't you going to kiss me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're going to kiss me."

Reviews

Romantic Times BOOKClub Magazine, 4 stars
"April's otherwise lovely mom is the rommate from hell, and unless April can reunite her parents, she's stuck with her. With the help of a sexy race-car driver, April hatches a plot to spark romance between the estranged couple – and maybe even between herself and Gunner. Novak's delivery of a loveable geeky heroine and a mouthwatering hero makes "What a Girl Wants" an irresistible ride."
--Susan Mitchell, RT BOOKClub Magazine