Three friends form the No More Bad Dates Pact: stop dating the wrong guys and start dating the right ones - weirdos and jerks need not apply.
Twenty-five-year-old Sophie McCarthy's career is virtually nonexistent, her family expects her to "do something important" with her life, and she's totally sick of dating the wrong guys: the self-absorbed, the arrogant, the borderline criminally insane.
After she's unceremoniously dumped during the vows at her boss's wedding, she and her two equally disappointed-in-love best friends agree to help each other find decent guys to date. Together, they form the No More Bad Dates Pact: stop dating the wrong guys and start dating the right ones--weirdos and jerks need not apply.
When Sophie's roommate Jason Christie--a.k.a. doctor-in-training and serial nurse-dater--joins the pact, he vows to weed out the bad ones for her. But with his rejection of every guy Sophie meets, she begins to wonder if he's got an ulterior motive. And anyway, why does she always have so much more fun with Jason than with the guys she's actually trying to date?
While desperately seeking her "happy for now," could Sophie stumble into her "happily ever after?"
High Tea is a spin-off of Kate O'Keeffe's bestselling Cozy Cottage Café series. Escape to New Zealand in this fun, feel-good chick lit series!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "I love this book! If you want a novel you won't be able to put down and will leave you with a smile on your face after you finish it, this is a great choice! So sweet and romantic!" - Annabelle Costa, bestselling author of My Perfect Ex-Boyfriend
Books in the High Tea series:
Book 1: No More Bad Dates
Book 2: No More Terrible Dates - releasing very soon!
Book 3: No More Horrible Dates - releasing soon!
I push my covers off, swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and stretch. I slip my kimono-style dressing gown on and pad down the hall, lured to the kitchen by the tempting coffee aroma.
A puff of steam wafts out of the bathroom in front of me as Jason steps into the hallway. I stop in my tracks as his eyes land on mine.
Of all the days . . .
“Ah, McCarthy. Top of the mornin’ to ya,” he says in a terrible rendition of an Irish accent before his face breaks into a totally knee-weakening smile.
“Hey” is about all I can manage as my heart thuds loudly in my ears. I try my level best not to stare at him. And I fail. Spectacularly. But come on, people! I’ve only just started to feel things for this guy again and he turns up looking like he’s been photo-shopped to male Adonis perfection, like Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love. The key difference is he’s here, right in front of me in the flesh, wearing nothing but a towel. Let me repeat that.
Nothing.
But.
A.
Towel.
That’s right, the guy I’m trying super hard to shake some thoroughly inappropriate feelings for is naked but for a piece of material loosely wrapped around his middle. His washboard abs, broad shoulders, and muscular arms are highlighted by glistening pearls of water scattered across his beautiful skin.
Come on!
I glance skyward. What are you trying to do to me?
Really, it’s a testament to my steely resolve that I don’t swoon in front of him, right here and now.
Sure, I’ve seen him in not much before. He spends summer in shorts and a tank, sometimes shirtless when we’re at the beach. But this feels different. It is different.
And I don’t like it one little bit.
I swallow, hard, and force myself to tear my eyes away. It takes a Herculean effort, but I manage it. Just.
If they were giving out medals for self-control, I’d get a big, shiny gold one with the words “First Rate Kicker of Jason Christie-Related Temptation” emblazoned on it for what I’ve just achieved.
He cocks an eyebrow, his eyes narrowed. “You okay, McCarthy?”
I clear my throat. “Yes, fine. Just woke up, that’s all.” I aim for a nonchalant shrug.
“Well, the coffee’s in the pot. Go help yourself. I’m gonna go get dressed.”
Yes! Get dressed! Put that Jason lusciousness under as many layers of fabric as you can find. Layer it up. Undershirts, over shirts, sweatshirts. Every kind of shirt you can imagine. And when you think you’re done, add another stack for good measure. I’m thinking Joey on Friends, wearing every item of clothing in Chandler’s closet.
Yes. That ought to do it.
“Err, okay.” I take a step closer to him so I can get past and he stands back for me.
Hot and a gentleman? Seriously?
“Pour me a mug. ’Kay?”
As I slink past him, I hold my breath to stop myself breathing in his scent like some kind of stalker. “You got it, roomie!” I reply in a super light and breezy way.
I reach the safety of the kitchen and bury my face in my hands. Why today? Why? Has someone up there got it in for me? Are they, in all their mysterious wisdom, trying to force me to grow the seed of my feelings for him? To make me want him more? To torture me with this?
Of all the days in the hundreds and hundreds of days we’ve been roommates, to run into him wearing just his towel and a knee-weakening smile, it had to be today? Darcy will be so pleased, her prediction I’d get a Jason eyeful one day come to life.
I let out a sigh as I pull a couple of mugs out of the cupboard and pour some coffee into each one. I add enough milk to cool mine down to an easy drinking temperature and down the whole thing before Jason arrives back in the kitchen. Call me a coward, but until I can get on top of these feelings for him once more—and vanquish that image of his perfect, wet torso—avoiding Jason Christie has got to be my best move.
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Twenty-five-year-old personal assistant Darcy Evans likes to be in control of her life. But there's one thing she can't get a handle on: men.
Sick of terrible dates, she makes a pact with her friends to only date good guys. But it's tough out there. From the liars and cheats to the positively weird, where's a modern day hero when you want one? Then, when her boss buys an art gallery, Darcy's forced to work with photographer Alex Walsh. He's a blast from her past and definitely not hero material. Ridiculously handsome and charming, he's all those distracting things Darcy doesn't need, especially when she can't forgive him for what happened back in high school. Can enemies become lovers, or is a painful past too hard to forgive? No More Terrible Dates is a fun, heart-warming enemies to lovers story for fans of Sophie Kinsella. The High Tea series is a spin-off of Kate O'Keeffe's bestselling Cozy Cottage Café series. Escape to New Zealand in this fun, feel-good chick lit series! |
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What do you do when you want to find your happily ever after, but you're stuck in a fake relationship with the last guy you'd ever want to date?
Twenty-five-year-old Erin Andrews has got a problem. She works for the country's most successful rugby team but a bitter past tells her all pro sports players are self-satisfied, arrogant jerks. There's no way on this sweet Earth she'd date one. That's why she agrees to a pact with her best friends to find good guys to date, and for her that definitely does not include guys like the "Wild Boy of Rugby," Nick Zachary. So, when Nick is in desperate need of a reputation rehab, the big bosses turn to her as the nice, ordinary girl who can get his image back on track. For Erin, being that girl is the last thing she would ever want to do. That is until she realizes just how much being Nick's high profile fake girlfriend can do for her dream of becoming a fashion designer. But playing this game of make-believe begins to feel real, and Erin wonders if the "Wild Boy of Rugby" could be her happily ever after... No More Horrible Dates is a fun, feel-good fake relationship story for fans of Sophie Kinsella. High Tea is a spin-off of Kate O'Keeffe's bestselling Cozy Cottage Café series. Escape to New Zealand in this fun, feel-good chick lit series! |
Kate O'Keeffe is a bestselling author of fun, feel-good romantic comedies. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke's Bay, New Zealand with her family, two scruffy dogs, and a cat who thinks he's a scruffy dog too. He's not: he's a cat. When she's not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries, and eating chocolate. A lot of it.
Kate is excited to announce her new series High Tea! It's a spin-off from the bestselling Cozy Cottage Café series, and Book 1 is currently on pre-order, due to be released on September 5th, 2019!
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