Padme's Library: Laguna Beach Kindle Worlds Part 3

Friday, July 15, 2016

Laguna Beach Kindle Worlds Part 3

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Laguna Beach Kindle World!

I’m so glad you are here and diving into this wonderful story. All of the Laguna Beach Kindle World stories are set in the same town of Laguna Beach, where my original series takes place. And if you’re familiar with the series, you’ll no doubt run across some of your favorite characters. The difference is, this book is entirely the work of the author. I didn’t help with plotting, writing or editing, but I was thrilled that when I asked her, she agreed to bring her imagination and storytelling skills to Laguna Beach!

Happy reading. For more about Laguna Beach, stop by my website: www.KairaRouda.com

Enjoy your time at the beach!

Kaira Rouda

Lucky in Laguna by Rachelle Ayala
Summary:

Dog walker Tally Tallahan has tried out for every reality show on the planet, but she’s never made the cut. She visits a former client, Laguna Nights star Laura Kincaid, to ask her to pull some strings.

Lucky Lenigan is lucky in everything except love. The shy scriptwriter writes for reality shows, but he is tongue-tied when it comes to romance. He bumps into Tally when she’s buying a lottery ticket with his lucky numbers.

Tally recognizes Lucky as the genius behind a number of high profile reality shows, and gets close to him so she could land a role.

When a bigshot actor’s eyes and hands land all over Tally, Lucky is torn between wanting success for her and keeping her for himself.

Will Lucky be more than Tally’s lucky break? Or will she abandon him for a slice of celebrity life?

A Treasure in Laguna by Heather Hiestand
Summary:

Add a dose of treasure hunting danger, mix in the excitement of finding true love when you least expect it, and you have A Treasure in Laguna...

Failed teen reality TV star Crowe Erickson comes to Laguna Beach looking for gold, redemption, and a new treasure hunting reality TV show. What he finds is another kind of treasure: Jenny Craft, the sexy television star who was his first crush.

While intrigued by his hunt for gold, Jenny left Hollywood and its shallow people far behind and is now running a successful restaurant of her own. She wants nothing to do with a younger, fame-seeking man.

One bad day in front of the cameras cost Crowe his first career. But he’s determined that this time it isn’t going to cost him the girl.

One Night in Laguna by Melissa Keir
Summary:

Schoolteacher, Melanie Whitman’s dating life is in shambles when her boyfriend and former boss dumps her. Her best friend arranges for Master Draikoh San, matchmaker extraordinaire, to provide her with a night to remember.

Breakout star of the third season of the reality TV show Laguna Nights Cole Hayes was burned by the limelight and started a family. After a messy divorce and looking to move back into the dating scene, he agrees to a one-night stand.

Can Cole and Melanie create a relationship that will last a lifetime, or will their one-night stand crash in the waves of Laguna Beach?

Reckless in Laguna by Barbara Ankrum
Summary:

He was the gardener’s brilliant son. She was the rich girl who loved him. But when Nio Reyes mysteriously left Laguna Beach ten years ago without a word of goodbye, he broke Becca Howard’s heart.

Now, with Becca’s once wealthy family in ruins, their money gone, the ever sexy Nio has returned on the eve of their old friends’ beach wedding to undo the damage he left behind. With secrets and family lies still standing in their way, Becca has quit believing in happily-ever-afters.

But one reckless, long-overdue weekend just might change everything.

Lucky in Laguna by Rachelle Ayala

“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Tally Tallahan’s lucky friend Laura Kincaid, the former reality TV star turned fashion designer, stared wide-eyed at her from across the table.

Tally set her chopsticks down and stared back, making sure to bug her eyes out. “Duh, you met the love of your life, Paul Dorn, because you just happened to crash your car outside of his store. He just happened to own Brace Activewear. As luck would have it, he wanted to expand into women’s wear, and there you were.”

“Yes, there I was, but I still had to wow him with my designs, among other things.” Laura punctuated her statement by pointing her chopsticks at Tally.

“I’m not saying you didn’t,” Tally agreed. “I wish you’d rub some of that ju-ju luck off on me.”

The two friends, who had met during Laura’s stint on Hollywood Nights, were at Laguna Beach’s premier Chinese restaurant having dim sum.

“You have to make your own luck.” Laura picked up an eggroll and dipped it into the sweet and sour sauce. “I take it you’re still trying to get into a reality show?”

“Heck yeah.” Tally poked a shrimp ball with a single chopstick. “I’ve tried everything, cooking, singing, dancing, even the weird stuff like rescuing wildlife where I got paired with a family of abandoned baby skunks.”

“And? Nothing?”

“I keep getting cut before the cast is selected. What am I doing wrong?”

“Nothing.” Laura took her time crunching her eggroll. She wiped her lips with a napkin and turned her wide blue eyes on Tally. “You’re too nice to be in a reality show.”

A Treasure in Laguna by Heather Hiestand

“Are you okay?” Crowe called.

A flashlight flared to life. Blinking against the sudden light, Jenny pulled her left foot out of the hole. Only her sock covered her toes. “I lost my shoe down there.”

“How deep?” Crowe asked, kneeling next to her.

“Up to my knee.”

He stuck his hand in the hole.

“Oh, don’t do that,” Jenny yelped. “It’s wet and disgusting.”

Justin held the flashlight over Crowe as he dropped to his stomach, ignoring her, and stuck his arm down up to mid-bicep.

Jenny waved her hands. “Crowe, come on, it’s not important. I mean, I found this marking just above where my foot sank in, but—”

He glanced up. “Treasure hunting is a messy business.”

“My shoe isn’t treasure. What creatures might be living in there?”

“Maybe not your shoe, but that marking might indicate something else of note.” His expression became intent as his shoulder rotated. “You know, I’m not finding your shoe, but I’ve got something else.” He lifted his hand. Rotting vegetation covered his palm.

Jenny was on her knees, but she still managed to jump back, her knees grated by small sharp pebbles. “Don’t you throw that at me, Erickson.”

He chuckled and dropped the muck against the cave wall. “Going down. I thought your feet were pretty big for a girl, but your shoe seems to have vanished.” He stuck his arm in again as Jenny huffed in mock outrage.

“Huh,” Crowe said after a few seconds. His arm came up again.

“What is it?” Jenny asked.

He rubbed one palm against the other, vegetation and water dripping off his hand. “Well, would you look at that.”

One Night in Laguna by Melissa Keir

“Sure. A pop, please.”

Melanie watched Cole walk to the bar. His tight slacks outlined his backside, while his dark hair reminded her of a Greek god, with the short back and sides and a long layer on top. She longed to run her fingers through his hair. Each peek at the tanned skin of his neck had her biting her lip. Melanie hadn’t been this physically attracted to someone in a long time. Her reaction was spontaneous. Maybe Master Draikoh San knew what she needed. After all, she wasn’t looking for a happily ever after, only a happily for tonight.

Cole wasn’t what she’d pictured when she thought of a California guy. Board shorts and bleach-blond hair, scruffy beard, and dark tan. Nope. None of those applied to Cole. With his high-end slacks, broad shoulders, and short hair, he looked more like a Navy Seal than a beach bum. And while his hair was shorter than in his photograph, Melanie had no complaints about Cole in the looks department, but she’d learned to be cautious. Her ex had been good looking and charming, too…right up until he dumped her.

“Here’s your soda. They had Coke.” He placed the tall glass in front of her. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Sure. Although, if you asked my friend, Brandi, from Texas, the only pop is Dr. Pepper.” She raised the glass and took a sip. Bubbles tickled her nose as the cold drink washed down her throat.

Reckless in Laguna by Barbara Ankrum

“I’ll take you home, if you want.” Nio held Becca against him there on his father’s deck, reluctant to let her go. “Or we could stay here. Watch the morning come.”

“No. No, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because, if I stayed,” she said, “I might ask you to kiss me again. And that would be—”

Without invitation, he dropped his mouth against hers and kissed her until her toes curled, until she forgot where she was and all of her objections. She opened her mouth to him and he took full advantage, slanting his kiss first one way, then the other in a breathless crush of need. A sound—more like a mewl of hunger—escaped her as he picked her up, walked a handful of steps to the padded beach chaise and stretched out half-atop her.

She inhaled the heady scent of him, ran her hands across his strong, muscled back, then lower, toward the taut curve of his hip. She felt his need hard against her thigh, inflaming the hunger rising in her. He felt so good. So very, very good.

Yet, some small voice, way-y-y way back in her mind warned her that this was a mistake, reminding her that she had sworn off men forever, because none of them could be trusted. Including him.

But this was Nio, the boy who had loved her when she’d felt unloved, laughed with her when she needed laughter and taught her how to gently plant a tree so as not to crush its roots. Nio, the boy she’d dreamed about for so many years, right here in her arms. And finally, there was no money standing between them, no parents interfering, no one forbidding them to do what they were about to do right now.

Click to Check Out Part 1 / Part 2

Laguna Nights

Summary:

Madison Alcott was back in her hometown, caring for her sick mom and working long hours at the best resort in Laguna Beach. She never imagined she'd return to the place where she became famous on the hit reality TV show Laguna Nights, and the place where she was humiliated on national television. Fortunately, the past had stayed tucked away until her old high school boyfriend appeared in the lobby.

Josh Welsh was a superstar by age eighteen, the bad boy break-out star of Laguna Nights. Since then, his star had lost its shine and he barely was holding onto his Hollywood status. When he was asked to host a new reality travel show, he jumped at the chance. The only problem was the first episode was shooting in Laguna Beach. Of all the reasons Josh didn't want to return home, he hadn't even imagined the worst scenario: running into Madison "Holly" Alcott. Josh's connection to Madison was still as strong as her anger at his betrayal. When the new reality series forces them together, they must face Laguna Nights past and present, and navigate a journey where nothing is as it seems.

Laguna Heights

Summary:

Annie and Hank have created a perfect life in Laguna Beach but when a dark secret is revealed, will their marriage survive?

In high school, Annie Johns was the calm, supportive sidekick to the rest of the tumultuous female stars of the hit reality TV show, Laguna Nights. Today, she’s living the happy life as a mom that she predicted on the show long ago. There’s only one problem: the secret from her past that haunts her most nights, a secret that if revealed could ruin everything she shares with her husband, Hank, a man who saved her from the heartache.

Lugana Lights

Summary:

Laura Kinkaid’s glamorous Hollywood life is falling apart. After years of reality television stardom beginning in high school on Laguna Nights, her career and relationship with her long-term boyfriend Scott are fizzling out. Laura decides to go home to Laguna Beach for the weekend to attend a baby shower for her high school friend. That decision – and a car accident – will lead her to a new future, if she’s ready to take a chance at love.

Paul Dorn’s former life in New York City is far behind him and he’s working in a popular Laguna Beach surf shop when fate brings the most beautiful woman he’s ever met into his life. The attraction is instant and he has an overwhelming desire to protect her. While Paul’s retail sales career is a short-term job for market research purposes, his focus on Laura is long-term.

Will Laura allow a handsome stranger to help her create a future unlike her past, or will the bright lights of Hollywood pull her back to LA?

Laguna Sights

Summary:

Once you're a star, can you trust other people’s intentions?

Scott Cassidy has lived a blessed life. Growing up in Laguna Beach with a loving family, he was discovered in high school when he appeared on the popular reality TV show, Laguna Nights. Now cast as a doctor on the number one soap opera, his star keeps rising. Finally free from his long-term girlfriend, Scott isn’t looking for love, but when a popular dating app matches him with Jamie Kane, he can’t deny the sparks. But is she really everything she seems?

Jamie Kane isn’t lucky in love or life. Her childhood was tumultuous with a single mom who moved to Hollywood for fame but ended up waiting tables in Malibu. Certainly not one of the spoiled kids she went to high school and college with, Jamie has worked hard to achieve her dreams of being an actress, even as she begins to realize it’s not her calling. Jamie believes Scott may be the answer to everything unless a past mistake makes him doubt their future together.

Is the price of fame the chance at true love?

Author Bios:

Rachelle Ayala

Rachelle Ayala is a bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Her foremost goal is to take readers on a shared emotional journey with her characters as they grow and become more true to themselves. Rachelle believes in the power of love to overcome obstacles and feels that everyone should find love as often as possible, especially if it's within the pages of a book.

Her book, Knowing Vera, won the 2015 Angie Ovation Award, and A Father for Christmas garnered a 2015 Readers’ Favorite Gold Award.

She is also a writing teacher and founder of the Romance In A Month writing community. She lives in California with her husband and has three children and two birds.

Heather Hiestand
Heather Hiestand was born in Illinois, but her family migrated west before she started school. Since then she has claimed Washington State as home, except for a few years in California. She wrote her first story at age seven and went on to major in creative writing at the University of Washington. Her first published fiction was a mystery short story, but since then it has been all about the many flavors of romance. Heather’s first published romance short story was set in the Victorian period, and she has written in many subgenres of romance since then. The author of many novels, novellas, and short stories, she has achieved best-seller status at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. With her husband and son, she makes her home in a small town and supposedly works out of her tiny office, though she mostly writes in her easy chair in the living room.

Melissa Keir

Melissa Keir has always wanted to be an author when she wasn’t hoping for a career as a race car driver. Her love of books was instilled by her mother and grandparents who were avid readers. She’d often sneak books away from them so that she could fantasize about those strong alpha males and plucky heroines. In middle school and high school, Melissa used to write sappy love poems and shared them with her friends and still has those poems today! In college her writing changed to sarcastic musings on life as well as poems with a modern twist on fairy tales and won awards for her writing. You can find many of these musings along with her latest releases on her website and blog. Her stories feature small towns and happily ever after!

Barbara Ankrum

Barbara Ankrum considers it a gift to write about hope and the healing power of love, because, let’s face it, there are times when all of us need a dose of that in our lives. Readers have taken her bestselling books into their hearts because, as in real life, the bitter in her stories is always balanced with the sweet, the funny and the adventurous misstep. Stumbling is part of life, but it’s the getting up part she loves to write about.

Having written for Zebra, Harper Collins, Harlequin and Silhouette, Barbara’s been fortunate enough to have been twice nominated for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA Award for both her historical westerns and her romantic suspense. Her latest contemporary romance series is set in the hugely popular Marietta, Montana from Tule Publishing. But no matter what genre she’s writing in, her books are always about characters your heart aches for just a little bit.

She’s been married forever to the love of her life, has two grown children, three young grandkids, and after being a California girl most of her life, she’s a recent transplant to the Midwest. And yes. She knows that’s crazy.

Kaira Rouda

Kaira Rouda is a USA Today bestselling, multiple award-winning author of contemporary women's fiction and sexy modern romance novels that sparkle with humor and heart.

Her women's fiction titles include THE GOODBYE YEAR, HERE, HOME, HOPE, ALL THE DIFFERENCE and IN THE MIRROR. Her bestselling short story is titled, A MOTHER'S DAY. Her sexy contemporary romance series include the LAGUNA BEACH Series, the INDIGO ISLAND Series with a new MALIBU Series launching in 2016.

Her nonfiction titles, REAL YOU INCORPORATED: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, and REAL YOU FOR AUTHORS: 8 Essentials for Women Writers (available for free download on her website) continue to inspire.

Kaira's work has won numerous awards including the Indie Excellence Award, USA Book Awards, the Reader's Choice Awards and honorable mention in the Writer's Digest International Book Awards. She lives in Southern California with her husband and four almost-grown kids, and is at work on her next novel. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and on her website.