Poor Piper Sweet! She owns Sweetie Pie's Bakery and Cafe. The curvaceous woman thinks she's going out of her mind! She's having weird dreams of soft fur and slashing claws, deep growls of lust, and cream puffs! She fears a break-in when she finds muddy prints on her bakery floor, but bear prints?? She's afraid to tell a soul but needs to confide in someone when she finds herself naked in the woods on a frosty morning.
Noah is on a mission to eradicate the rogue shifters that have set up camp in the small town of Grafton, Illinois. His methods are a bit unorthodox, and his personality is on the wild side, but none of that matters when he walks into Sweetie Pie's on the hunt for a shifter giving off the scent of power. One look at the curvy blonde and he's in love - that is to say, he immediately imprints Piper as his soulmate. Trouble is, she's the one giving off the power, and she doesn't even know it.
Maggie Adams is an Amazon Best Selling contemporary romance author. Her first book in the Tempered Steel Series, Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in Amazon’s Top 100 for Women’s Fiction, humor, on November, 2014 and then again at #61 in 2016. Since then, she has consistently made the Amazon best seller 5-star list with Leather and Lace, Something’s Gotta Give, Love, Marriage & Mayhem, and Forged in Fire. Her series has launched the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, into International recognition with sales in Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and the UK.
Poor Piper Sweet! She owns Sweetie Pie's Bakery and Cafe. The curvaceous woman thinks she's going out of her mind! She's having weird dreams of soft fur and slashing claws, deep growls of lust, and cream puffs! She fears a break-in when she finds muddy prints on her bakery floor, but bear prints?? She's afraid to tell a soul but needs to confide in someone when she finds herself naked in the woods on a frosty morning.
Noah is on a mission to eradicate the rogue shifters that have set up camp in the small town of Grafton, Illinois. His methods are a bit unorthodox, and his personality is on the wild side, but none of that matters when he walks into Sweetie Pie's on the hunt for a shifter giving off the scent of power. One look at the curvy blonde and he's in love - that is to say, he immediately imprints Piper as his soulmate. Trouble is, she's the one giving off the power, and she doesn't even know it.
Maggie Adams is an Amazon Best Selling contemporary romance author. Her first book in the Tempered Steel Series, Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in Amazon’s Top 100 for Women’s Fiction, humor, on November, 2014 and then again at #61 in 2016. Since then, she has consistently made the Amazon best seller 5-star list with Leather and Lace, Something’s Gotta Give, Love, Marriage & Mayhem, and Forged in Fire. Her series has launched the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, into International recognition with sales in Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and the UK.
A romantic comedy about friendships, flirtations, and the elusive “Fantasm!”
Hi! I’m Miranda Blake and this is my story. Well, sort of. It’s more like a twisted fairytale, if you believe in them. Except there’s no beautiful, young princess with perky breasts, perfectly coiffed hair and a sassy attitude. I’m closing in on fifty, thirty pounds overweight according to Weight Watchers, and, after nursing two kids and that bitch, gravity, doing her job, I’m lucky the ladies don’t hit my knees. The gorgeous brown mane of hair is slightly frizzy from my ridiculous attempts to recapture my youth by dyeing the hell out of it. As for sassy attitude, well, it wasn’t so long ago that I was a doormat. And the charming prince who sweeps me off my feet into the life of my dreams? I have a dog called Prince, German Shepherd, who knocks me on my ass if I’m in the way when the doorbell rings. Does that count?
I paused and looked up from packing our suitcases for our anniversary trip to Aruba. The ambient light he had insisted upon when we remodeled barely illuminated his form much less his facial expression. I didn’t mind the lighting usually, it smoothed over the slight imperfections on our bodies and made everything look soft and supple. Tonight, I would have given my left boob for one of those interrogation lights you see on detective shows.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” Like the doormat I am, I continued to fold his underwear into the case. The frustration coming from his voice was enough to convince me he was telling the truth, but I didn’t want to believe him. So, I continued to fold the damn clothes like an idiot, hoping this was his idea of a twisted joke at my expense. I’d had a lot of those over the years.
“You heard me, Miranda.” He raked his right hand through his graying hair. For a moment, I felt a twinge of envy. Men were so damn lucky in growing older. The gray or the glasses made them look sophisticated and worldly. I, however, looked like that myopic frizzy haired witch in those wizard movies. I blinked, returning his frown with a slight smile.
“You don’t mean that,” I said, shaking my head. I could feel the panic beginning to rise. What if he did mean it? What would I do? I’d given up my job as a journalist over twenty-five years ago to get married and have children. I’d stayed home, the perfect housewife and mother, because that’s the way he wanted it. Anger began to replace the panic. I’d given up my dreamsto allow him his and this is how he repays me?
The clothes were packed so I started toward the bathroom to fill the toiletries. Brushing past him, I was surprised when he grabbed my arm. “You’re not listening! God, you do this every time there’s something you don’t want to hear. Do you know how annoying that is?”
Annoying? Avoiding confrontation was annoying?? I almost laughed out loud. If he only knew how many times I had wanted to scream at him, to insist he listen to me for once. Perhaps I should let fly right now and really let the bastard have it. After all, he deserved it with this stupid demand.
Who the hell gets divorced after twenty-five years? I mean, that’s like the last year to make a change, isn’t it? After that, you take stock of your life, decide that it may not be all you dreamed of but it’s good enough, and you wait each other out on the death sentence.
I opened my mouth to tell him just that when I noticed he had moved away and was shuffling through the suitcase. “What in the hell are you doing?” I growled at him as I began refolding my things. “We are going on our anniversary cruise tomorrow morning. I need to pack. You need to get a grip on whatever this male menopause thing is and be ready to enjoy our trip.”
Oh my God! Did I just say that out loud? I peeked up at him. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. I watched the blood rush from his throat to his head. Yep, I’d said it out loud. He grabbed my arms and pushed me into the desk chair. I was suddenly frightened. How odd! I’d never been frightened of him before. Perhaps it was because his face was so close, I could smell the whiskey on his breath, see myself in his eyes. But more than likely it was because he had his fingers around my throat, and he was squeezing.
“Pay attention, Miranda. I no longer want you. I no longer desire you. You have become an albatross weighing me down. We are divorcing and that’s final. You go your way and I go mine. I take what is mine and you take what is yours.” He released me and stepped back to the suitcase, calmly taking out my clothes once again.
“The kids?” I gasped out, rubbing the sting from the skin of my throat.
“The kids are adults. They will be fine.” He closed the suitcase with a snap. “I’m going on the cruise. When I return, I expect you to be out of the house. Everything can be handled through our lawyers.”
The cruise. My clothes. His silences. I closed my eyes against the knowledge of my own stupidity. “Who is she?”
I could feel his stare. He was weighing whether to tell me, so it must be someone I knew. “It doesn’t matter.”
I opened my eyes. “It does to me.”
For the first time, he looked uneasy. He cleared his throat. “It’s Megan Clark. As soon as our divorce is final, she’ll be Megan Blake.”
“Our daughter’s tennis coach?!” I shot up from the chair. “You’ve been fucking our daughter’s tennis coach?!” This threw my anger into high gear like nothing else could. He could mess with me all he wanted, but to deliberately hurt our daughter, use her for his selfish desires?
I pushed him out the bedroom door. “You cheating sack of shit! You find my avoidance of issues, annoying, well, let me help you clear the air! I find your constant handling of your balls annoying, your clearing your throat then swallowing phlegm annoying, your constant critique of everyone else annoying, your pompous attitude about my friends annoying,” I took a deep breath, noting with satisfaction that he now clutched the suitcase to his chest in defense, and screamed at the top of my lungs. “But mostly I find your selfish, narcissistic, cloying attempts to be the man you need to be but fall far short of, to be ANNOYING!”
“You’re insane!” he whispered, horrified at my display.
He scrambled down the stairs and headed for the garage as I continued to hail insults down upon his head. “You’re a terrible father to do this to your children! You’re homemade wine tastes like raspberry piss water! Your mother’s potato salad sucked!”
I saved the best for last. One that would ultimately worm its way into his psyche and take root. One this narcissistic rat bastard couldn’t help but take to heart. The one thing I had to constantly praise him on.
I smiled as he hurried into the car. “You’re a mediocre fuck, Dale. You’re a one trick pony in bed and your balls smell like vegetable soup!” I made sure to imprint the look of horror and disgust on his face as he backed out of our garage to go to his lover.
It was only hours later, as I slid onto the sheets of the bed in the guestroom, that I realized throughout the entire confrontation, neither of us had mentioned love. That made me sad for a moment, then a profound relief took hold and I began to cry. I hadn’t realized how tight I had been wound. Fuckin’ twenty-five years and I finally get a do-over. I closed my eyes and dreamed.
Maggie Adams is an Amazon Best Selling contemporary romance author. Her first book in the Tempered Steel Series, Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in Amazon’s Top 100 for Women’s Fiction, humor, on November, 2014 and then again at #61 in 2016. Since then, she has consistently made the Amazon best seller 5-star list with Leather and Lace, Something’s Gotta Give, Love, Marriage & Mayhem, and Forged in Fire. Her series has launched the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, into International recognition with sales in Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and the UK.
A romantic comedy about friendships, flirtations, and the elusive “Fantasm!”
Hi! I’m Miranda Blake and this is my story. Well, sort of. It’s more like a twisted fairytale, if you believe in them. Except there’s no beautiful, young princess with perky breasts, perfectly coiffed hair and a sassy attitude. I’m closing in on fifty, thirty pounds overweight according to Weight Watchers, and, after nursing two kids and that bitch, gravity, doing her job, I’m lucky the ladies don’t hit my knees. The gorgeous brown mane of hair is slightly frizzy from my ridiculous attempts to recapture my youth by dyeing the hell out of it. As for sassy attitude, well, it wasn’t so long ago that I was a doormat. And the charming prince who sweeps me off my feet into the life of my dreams? I have a dog called Prince, German Shepherd, who knocks me on my ass if I’m in the way when the doorbell rings. Does that count?
I heard the sales lady call out to me and I quickened my pace. Oh God! She knew I’d had sex with Grant in the restroom. How? And where in the hell was Grant?
I scanned the busy showroom for any sign of my spur of the moment lover but he had disappeared.
“Please Ma’am, just a minute.”
I pretended not to hear. The exit was just in front of me. What was the penalty for sex in a public place? Could I be arrested? Jailed? Oh, Lordy, what have I done?
Panic had me running for the exit. I pushed open the door and glanced back at the saleslady.Ooopmf!I slammed into someone who held me fast. Hanging my head, I prepared to meet my fate.
“Well, that’s a bold fashion statement.”
Oh No! Not HIM. I glanced up quickly, hitting my head on his chin, pain stabbing into my brain.
“Ow!”
A hand on my back told me the saleslady had caught up with me. I was doomed. This is what I get for trying to be spontaneous and live in the moment. Well, since Cheryl gave me that advice, I’ll just call her for bail money.
“Ma’am, allow me.”
The tug on my maxi skirt was the first inkling I had that my humiliation was not over. Turning slightly, I got a glimpse of myself in small wall mirror, the saleslady tugging my skirt out of the waistband of my thong while HE held my arms.
I gasped as the reality hit me. I had just run through a large, crowded furniture store with my skirt tucked into my underwear and my naked ass in full view of everyone.
“Given the circumstances, I think introductions are in order,” HE said with an arrogant smirk.
Maggie Adams is an Amazon Best Selling contemporary romance author. Her first book in the Tempered Steel Series, Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in Amazon’s Top 100 for Women’s Fiction, humor, on November, 2014 and then again at #61 in 2016. Since then, she has consistently made the Amazon best seller 5-star list with Leather and Lace, Something’s Gotta Give, Love, Marriage & Mayhem, and Forged in Fire. Her series has launched the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, into International recognition with sales in Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and the UK.
Daisy Jones has loved Gideon McElroy her entire life. Painfully shy, she had lived for the summers spent on the small island near Wisconsin at her grandpa’s cabin, when Gideon would come to stay with his grandfather, the Colonel. While the old men reminisced on happier times, Daisy would follow Gideon like a puppy, thrilled just to be in his presence. When he enlisted, she was heartbroken but took solace in the fact that he would still come to visit his aging grandfather when time allowed.
Fate had other plans. When his grandfather passed on, and Gideon didn’t attend the funeral, Daisy knew he was gone forever. She married, had a child, and tried not to think of Gideon or what had become of him.
Fifteen years have come and gone. Daisy, now a widow, is the veterinarian on the island. She sees to the animals of the tiny town and lives a simple life. But when rumors fly that a strange man is living on the Colonel’s land, she makes it her duty to investigate.
Gideon McElroy has come home to die. He knows he should have left this earth back in Afghanistan, not stitched back together to satisfy some damn surgeon’s “God complex.” The scars left behind have given him a grotesque appearance, a good reason to stay to himself. Between his appearance, the locked fence, and Samson, his large Mastiff, he’s confident in his solitary existence until he exits this world.
But he never counted on “Crazy Daisy” and her determination to drag him back into life.
She glanced around. Nothing much had changed except the large exercise machine in the corner facing the window. All the books, the old rugs, were in place; even the chess set was still in front of the window. It even smelled the same – slightly moldy, but redolent with the cherry vanilla tobacco the Colonel had smoked, and the Pine-Sol he had used to clean everything.
“Gideon? Where are you?” Daisy walked through the kitchen toward the back of the cabin. Perhaps he had been hurt. In concern, she quickened her steps. As she neared the bathroom, there was what sounded like a groan. Truly worried now, she opened the bathroom door and stood stock still.
Gideon McElroy was stark naked and hard, his cock in his hand.
“What the fuck? Woman, are you crazy?”
She heard him yell, but she was transfixed. Most of his left side was crisscrossed with scars, like he had been in a fire. Even his groin and chest looked like a roadmap. The beard obstructed his neck and jawline, but the scars continued up the side of his face and into his hairline.
And he was pissed.
Daisy mumbled an apology and frantically searched for a towel. She spotted it on the vanity base and threw it at him, backing out of the room as he tied the towel around his waist and advanced on her as she hurried down the hall into the living room.
She held her hands up to ward him off and began to babble. “I’m sorry; I thought, well, the dog was missing, and the door popped open and I wasn’t sure if you were hurt, or even here and I wanted to…” She tripped on the leg of the large armchair and fell into it. The sun was completely blocked from her sight as Gideon closed the distance between them. For a moment, she thought this must be what Belle felt like when the Beast got in her face. She could feel his breath against her cheek.
“Now I know you’re not blind,” he snarled. “But are you deaf and dumb? I told you to leave and not come back. To stay away. Now what part didn’t you understand? Or maybe you’re just crazy like people in town say?”
That hurt. She had thought the name was because she was crazy enough to take on the local VA hospital when her David couldn’t get help with the PTSD he had suffered from after Afghanistan; not that she was, well, crazy. Tears began to fall, and she cursed inwardly. She hated that she cried when she was angry. It was a sign of weakness to her mind.
“Fuck! Don’t start the waterworks.” Gideon flung himself away from her. “I don’t care why you are here, I just want you gone.” He looked around the room. “Where the hell’s Samson? How did you get past him, anyway?”
“I, er, I don’t know. He wasn’t here. That’s why I thought something was wrong.” She wiped her tears with her coat sleeve. “I heard what sounded like a moan in the back, and I came down the hall to make sure you or Samson weren’t hurt.”
Gideon eyes lit on the basket of goodies Daisy had brought. “You’re the fuckin’ welcome wagon?”
“No! Um, well, yes, I guess, in your case. I needed to make sure Samson had, um, his shots and was chipped, so I brought the basket and some of the cookies you liked when we were kids.” Daisy shrugged. Now that she thought about it, that did sound kind of lame - here’s some cookies. Remember me?
He quirked an eyebrow and picked up the taser. “And if I didn’t cooperate, you were going to taser me into accepting the basket?”
“No!” she laughed. “The dog,” but as soon as she said it, she knew she was in trouble.
“You were going to taser my DOG?” he roared, advancing on her once again.
Maggie Adams is an internationally bestselling romance author. Her first book in the Tempered Steel Series, the romantic comedy-Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in Top 100 for Women’s Fiction, Humor, on November 2014. Since then, she has consistently made the various bestseller 5-star list with her Tempered Steel Series. Her series has launched the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, into international recognition with sales in Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and the UK. She is the recipient of various awards for excellence including Dayreader Reviews Best of 2015, the Readers Favorite Award 2016, the Indie Romance Convention Romantic Comedy Award 2017 and the 2017 New Apple Awards -Suspense.
She also writes paranormal romance, young adult romance, and women’s fiction. Maggie’s books can be found on eBook and paperback on her website and all major book sites.
When she’s not writing, she can be found dancing, singing, and cooking (usually all at the same time), and spending time with her family and friends.
