Marrying The Single Dad
A man called JoeBuilding a new life for himself and his pre-teen daughter brings Joe Messina home to Harmony Valley. That, and showing his town that the onetime bad boy is now a responsible single father. His first move is to get his grandfather’s defunct garage up and running. Except now he’s got the FBI poking around and a beautician with her eye on the abandoned auto parts. An artist who’s happiest turning rusty junk into sought-after treasure, San Francisco transplant Brittany Lambridge is making Joe think they can create something rare and special together. But he has unfinished family business that could jeopardize his fresh start. Is Joe ready to believe in himself as fiercely as Brittany's beginning to believe in him?
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A man called Joe
Building a new life for himself and his preteen daughter brings Joe Messina home to Harmony Valley. That and showing his town that the onetime bad boy is now a responsible single father. His first move is to get his grandfatherâs defunct garage up and running. Except now heâs got the FBI poking around, and thereâs a beautician with her eye on the abandoned auto parts. An artist whoâs happiest turning rusty junk into sought-after treasure, San Francisco transplant Brittany Lambridge is making Joe think they can create something rare and special together. But he has unfinished family business that could jeopardize his fresh start. Is Joe ready to believe in himself as fiercely as Brittanyâs beginning to believe in him?
âWhy, shaggy-hair Joe...I never expected a beauty compliment from you.â
âStop talking like that, Brit.â He placed his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her face up to his. âStop talking and kiss me.â
She froze. A deer in his headlights.
And then she laughed, shaking her head, loosening his hold. âYou almost had me.â
He did have her. He had his arms around her and she relaxed. He kissed her.
A simple act. Four lips. Two hearts. One beat.
It didnât feel simple. It felt complex and intense and terrifying.
He had no right to kiss her. Kissing implied intent. He was broke, with a daughter to provide for. His world was imperfect when she deserved perfection.
He had no right to kiss her. Kissing opened the door to heartbreak. He couldnât stand to be left or betrayed by another person he loved.
He had no right to kiss her. And yet he did.
And for a moment, everything felt perfect.
Welcome to Harmony Valley!
Just a few short years ago, Harmony Valley was on the brink of extinction with only those over the age of sixty in residence. Now the influx of a younger generation is making life in Harmony Valley more fun for its gray-haired residents than afternoon television.
Brittany Lambridge dreams of being an upcycle artist. Although she pays the bills by working in her grandfatherâs barber shop, sheâs been commissioned to make a driveway gate with a luxury car grill. Now all she needs is a luxury car grill. She thinks sheâs found one in an abandoned car cemetery next to a closed auto-repair shop. Too bad Joe Messina bought the defunct garage the day before Brit tries picking the place. This single dad refuses to let Brit take anything away until he identifies the owners of the abandoned cars. In the meantime, if Joe wants to make a living fixing cars, heâs got to prove to Harmony Valley that heâs no longer the bad boy they remember.
I hope you enjoy Joe and Britâs journey to a happily-ever-after, as well as the other romances in the Harmony Valley series. I love to hear from readers. Check my website to learn more about upcoming books, sign up for email book announcements (and Iâll send you a free sweet romance read) or chat with me on Facebook (MelindaCurtisAuthor) to hear about my latest giveaways.
Melinda Curtis
Award-winning USA TODAY bestselling author MELINDA CURTIS is an empty nester. Now instead of carpools and sports leagues, her days go something like this: visit the gym with her husband at 5:30 a.m., walk the dogs, enjoy a little social media, write-write-write, consider cooking dinner (possibly reject cooking dinner in favour of takeout), watch sports or DIY shows with her husband, read and collapse in bed. Sometimes the collapse part happens before any TV or reading takes place.
Melinda enjoys putting humor into her stories because thatâs how she approaches life. She writes sweet contemporary romances as Melinda Curtis (Brenda Novak says of Season of Change, âfound a place on my keeper shelfâ), and fun, steamy reads as Mel Curtis (Jayne Ann Krentz says of Cora Rules, âwonderfully entertainingâ).
This book is dedicated to those whoâlike my heroineâdare to dream. Sometimes it just takes one person to have faith to make you believe in yourself.
Contents
âWHAT DO YOU think youâre doing?â a deep masculine voice bellowed across the overgrown, wreck-strewn field in Harmony Valley.
Brittany Lambridge jumped and thunked the back of her head on the hood of the ancient BMW sedan. Add headache to her list of injuries this morning.
âI told you weâd get caught,â Regina whispered. Britâs sister was the queen of I told you sos.
Brit stepped back from the decaying car, rubbing her head beneath her baseball cap. The nip of early morning bit into her scraped knuckles while dewy knee-high grass hid her feet. She peered to the left, then the right, but the rusting, abandoned cars were still rusty and abandoned. No one else was in the flat patch of land with them. No one driving past on the two-lane highway bordering the field. No one stood near the thick blackberry bushes along the river. And sheâd been told the car repair shop and nearby house had been empty for at least a decade. Had she imagined the voice? Or... Brit stopped rubbing her head and faced her sister.
