Showing results for "Nothing Like the Movies Lynn Painter" in All Categories

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar - and maybe snag him as a prom date - even befriend Wes Bennet. The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic-comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip. Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another horrendous V-Day. Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day.

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team—which he didn’t even want—Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club.

When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her wedding that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their wedding: “I object!”

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting it, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us. Nothing but good old-fashioned no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying; I’m just peeling an onion.)

There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediate yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong . . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had one dream. Go to college with my best friends, earn a starting position on a division one team, and hear my name announced to the world come draft day. The path was clear, and things were falling in place perfectly. Until she showed up. I never meant to fall for my friend’s little sister and by the time I realized I had, it was too late. I am a man in love with a girl … who is in love with someone else. But I can’t compete with a ghost, and her heart was buried along side the boy she gave it to. The father of her unborn son.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away. But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos - the first and only love of her life - the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve.

Ever heard of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer? That's exactly what Ally Lockwood has to do when the hottest guy at Fairview High, who is also her sworn nemesis, moves in with her family for senior year. Most girls would do anything to live across the hall from Chase Williams, but Ally isn't fooled by his good looks or brooding charm. She's been on the wrong side of him for years, and knows all too well how sly and manipulative he truly is. She's desperate to get rid of him. Her friends have a genius plan to ensure her over-protective father kicks Chase out for good.

Paedyn Gray and Kai Azer return to the Kingdom of Ilya… And Paedyn has a life-altering choice to make. Whatever she decides will determine her fate—and the fate of those around her—forever. In the ultimate battle of love and loyalty, who wins?

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Tommen's cheekiest lad, Gerard 'Gibsie' Gibson, has always been a comedian, but most people don't see what lurks beneath the surface. He is haunted by events of the past and he uses humor to cope, hiding his true self from the world. Claire Biggs, the epitome of sunshine, has always loved Gibsie, her brother's friend and her favorite neighbor. She has always seen a side to him that no one else seems to notice. She becomes determined to tame her wild-at-heart childhood best friend.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Mona and Duncan used to be best friends. Now they can’t stand each other. Too bad that’s not a good enough excuse to miss their two families’ annual trip to the cabin. But things get really complicated when they accidentally drive through a wormhole together on the way. Look what playing nice and carpooling gets you. Now they’re stranded indoors by an epic storm and stuck in an alternate timeline where things are just slightly ... off.

Holland Beck – yes, after the country, and no, the story isn’t a good one – hates flying. On the brink of boarding a flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles, she panics. She can’t do it. Travelling triggers all the trauma of her past, the childhood memories she’s done her very best to forget. But thanks to cool, calm and collected Xander, Holland somehow manages to board the plane. Twelve hours and six thousand miles later, they touch down in LA and aren’t quite able to say goodbye. They make arrangements to meet at the end of Santa Monica Pier in three days time.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much.

When I was eleven, my family moved next door to his. When I was thirteen, he was my first crush. When I was sixteen, we fell for each other. And when I was nineteen, we broke each other's hearts. Six years later, I've landed an internship with a big-name interior designer in a new city. Unfortunately, that city just so happens to be the one he plays hockey for. I thought Chicago was big enough to avoid him, until I get the surprise of a lifetime and unknowingly move in right next door.

There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediate yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong . . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake.

Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him.

In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom. They shattered my world; now, I’ll bring down theirs. The problem? I have virtually no way to trace the puppet master. My only lead: The Vipers. An elite college hockey team that rules the ice—and the shadows beyond it. To infiltrate their secret society, I set my sights on their weakest link. Kane Davenport. The charismatic captain and the lone green flag in a nest of serpents. But too late, I realize I’ve enticed the most venomous snake.

It’s New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh’s biggest hospital, and Dr. Becca Armitage is struggling. After a devastating shift in the emergency room leaves her questioning everything, she signs herself off work and spirals into depression. Enter Dr. Andrew Maitland – charming, wealthy and, according to Becca, the Most Beautiful Man in the World. As they begin an unexpected romance, Becca finds herself lying to maintain the image of the put-together doctor Andrew thinks she is. But Andrew has secrets of his own.

A love that couldn't be broken, except by the truth. Lizzie Young has always felt she was too much everything. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a young age, she’s never fit in with her family, her friends, her community. Lizzie wants to be accepted and understood, but with few family or friends in her corner, she’s carries her burdens and her trauma on her own. But when she meets a kind boy on the school bus, things start to look bright for the first time in her life…

A heart-wrenching new novel from best-selling author Rebecca Yarros that examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can't bring ourselves to see coming.

Beckett: If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer's hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes best-selling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but pretends that she can. Plus, Cole and Hutch are brothers. And they don’t get along. Next stop: paradise!

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra. Which is how Daphne begins her new story.

I caught the attention of a monster. I didn’t ask for it. Didn’t even see it coming. But the moment I do, it’s too late. Killian Carson is a predator wrapped in sophisticated charm. He’s cold-blooded, manipulative, and savage. The worst part is that no one sees his devil side. I do. And that will cost me everything. I run, but the thing about monsters? They always chase.

I ran from home to escape heartbreak, only to deliver myself into the hands of a wolf. Henry Wolf, that is. Heir to a luxury hotel chain, infamous playboy, arrogant bastard...and my new boss. Why he wants me, Abbi Mitchell - a girl who lacks experience on every front that would matter to him - as his personal assistant, I cannot fathom, especially when I keep messing up in the most spectacular way. Did I already mention he's a bastard? A beautiful, moody one, who's quick to demand, slow to apologize. And toying with me every chance he gets.

When lonely author Autumn meets shy musician Bowie in New York, they fall head over heels and into their forever. But not everyone gets their happily ever after. Bowie has just six months left to live. And just like that, Autumn’s entire life has been rewritten. Embraced by his loving, unconventional family, Autumn returns with Bowie to England to live out the rest of his life by his side. But over the course of that summer, the decisions Autumn makes will help her move on, even after love and loss. Decisions, it emerges, that were orchestrated by Bowie before they said goodbye.

Nora Stephens' life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.