Posted in Book Lists, Happy When It Rains, Ohana Girls

Legal Affairs (aka My Favourite Fictional Lawyers)

KBD

Today (9 April 2024) is International Be Kind to Lawyers Day (Days of the Year). I haven’t put together a Book List for a while so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post about Legal Affairs (aka My Favourite Fictional Lawyers).

As always, if you’ve got any recommendations, you can let me know either in the comments or by e-mail at louisehallbooks@gmail.com.

P.S. If you’re looking for more Book Lists, you can find links to them all in the Archives.

Happy reading x


The rest of My Favourite Fictional Lawyers will be listed alphabetically A-Z by author but I’m going to start with my own ‘Happy When It Rains.’ 

(1) Daniel Ford from Happy When It Rains (Ohana Girls #4) by Louise Hall (2021)

If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:

  1. She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;
  2. She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;
  3. She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.

Tags: My Books / Pink Hair, Don’t Care / Second Chance / Tattoo Artists


(2) Gretchen Winthrop from A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) by Lyssa Kay Adams (2022)

Country music’s golden boy Colton Wheeler felt the most perfect harmony when he was with Gretchen Winthrop. But for her, it was a love him and leave him situation. A year later, Colton is struggling to push his music forward in a new direction. If it weren’t about to be the most magical time of year and the support of the Bromance Book Club, he’d be wallowing in self-pity.

It’s hard for immigration attorney Gretchen not to feel a little Scrooge-ish about the excess of Christmas when her clients are scrambling to afford their rent. So when her estranged, wealthy family reaches out with an offer that will allow her to better serve the community, she’s unable to say no. She just needs to convince Colton to be the new face of her family’s whiskey brand. No big deal…

Colton agrees to consider Gretchen’s offer in exchange for three dates before Christmas. With the help of the Bromance Book Club, Colton throws himself into the task of proving to her there’s a spark between them. But Gretchen and Colton will both need to overcome the ghosts of Christmas past to build a future together.

Tags: Christmas / Country Music / Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Fictional Musicians


(3) Louis McNally II from Chase Me (Broke & Beautiful #1) by Tessa Bailey (2015)

College drop-out, Roxy Cumberland, moved to New York with dreams of becoming an actress, but her dwindling bank account is quickly putting the kibosh on that fantasy. To make some quick cash, she signs up to perform singing telegrams. Her first customer is a gorgeous, cocky Manhattan trust-funder if she ever laid eyes on one. And what could be more humiliating than singing an ode to his junk, courtesy of his last one night stand? Maybe the fact that she’s dressed in a giant, pink bunny costume…

After a night out to celebrate winning his last case, lawyer Louis McNally II isn’t prepared for the pounding in his head or the rabbit serenading him from the front door. But the sassy wit and sexy voice of the girl behind the mask intrigues him and one look at her stunning face— followed by a mind-blowing kiss against his doorjamb—leaves Louis wanting more.

Roxy doesn’t need a spoiled rich boy who’s had everything in life handed to him on a Tiffany platter. But there’s more to Louis than his sexy surface and he’s determined to make Roxy see it…even if it means chasing her all over NYC.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series


(4) Alexander Knightley from The British Knight (The Royals #4) by Louise Bay (2017)

When I’m offered the chance to leave New York to live in London for three months, I can’t pack my suitcase fast enough.

As soon as I touch down I’m obsessing over red telephone boxes, palaces and all the black cabs.

But my favourite place is the tube. It’s wall-to-wall hot British men in suits.

When I’m offered a temporary job working for a barrister, I say, sign me up.

On my first commute into work, it’s a total accident when I lose my balance and fall against the most handsome Brit alive. He’s as charming as James Bond and as suave as Mr. Darcy. I want to lick tea from his hard abs and listen to his accent all night long.

Turns out Mr. Handsome is my new boss. And his attitude isn’t as hot as his gorgeous face, broad shoulders and tight ass. He’s brooding, short-tempered and the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.

As we’re fighting, out of nowhere he kisses me. And I’m pretty sure I see fireworks over Big Ben and hear God Save the Queen.

I wasn’t looking for the fairytale but I might have found my knight in shining armour. The problem is he lives an ocean away.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Office Romance


(5) Gabriel Chase from Mr Smithfield (Mister #3) by Louise Bay (2021)

Wanted: American nanny for an adorable four-year-old. Must be able to handle a moody, brooding, sexy British boss.

I’m a single father, a lawyer and some say the most serious man in London. I’m completely focused on raising my four-year-old daughter.

Since my wife walked out three years ago, the only woman who has ever caught my eye is the strictly off-limits sister-in-law of my best friend, Autumn Lumen.

But temptation is easy to resist because Autumn is only visiting London from Oregon.

Until she moves to London. The nanny quits. And she’s the only woman for the job.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Nannies


(6) Stanton Shaw & Sofia Santos from Overruled (Legal Briefs #1) by Emma Chase (2015)

As a DC defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing – with his southern drawl, disarming smile and captivating green eyes – he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him and women want to be thoroughly cross examined by him.

Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan.

Until the day he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart and mother of his beloved ten-year old daughter. Jenny is getting married — to someone who isn’t him.

That’s definitely not part of the plan.

***

Sofia Santos is a city raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions.

But when Stanton, her “friend with mind-blowing benefits” begs for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him – to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi – to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves.

Her head tells her she’s crazy…and her heart says something else entirely.

***

What happens when you mix a one stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage and a gun-toting Nana?

The Bourbon flows, passions rise and even the best laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)


(7) Jake Becker from Sustained (Legal Briefs #2) by Emma Chase (2015)

A knight in tarnished armour is still a knight.

When you’re a defence attorney in Washington, DC, you see first-hand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.

Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.

Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.

Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.

And that — that, I know how to do.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Book by This Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Guardians


(8) Brent Mason & Kennedy Randolph from Appealed (Legal Briefs #3) by Emma Chase (2016)

When Brent Mason looks at Kennedy Randolph, he doesn’t see the awkward, sweet girl who grew up next door. He sees a self-assured, stunning woman…who wants to crush the most intimate – and prized – parts of his anatomy beneath the heels of her Christian Louboutins.

Brent has never let the loss of his leg in a childhood accident affect his ability to lead a fulfilling life. He sets high goals–and then he reaches them.

And now he has his sights set on Kennedy.

**

When Kennedy looks at Brent Mason, all she sees is the selfish, Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue-worthy teenager who humiliated her in high school to join the popular crowd. A crowd that made those years a living hell.

She’s not a lovesick social outcast anymore – she’s a DC prosecutor with a long winning streak behind her. Brent is the opposing attorney in her next case and she thinks it’s time to put him through a little hell of his own.

But things aren’t exactly working out that way.

Because every fiery exchange has her wondering if he’s as passionate in the bedroom as he is in the courtroom. Each argument and objection only makes him want her more. In the end, Brent and Kennedy may just find themselves in love…or in contempt of court.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)


(9) Emily Aulenbach from Escape by Barbara Delinsky (2011)

Emily Aulenbach is thirty-two, a lawyer married to a lawyer, working in Manhattan. An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse, but she spends her days in a cubicle talking on the phone with vic­tims of tainted bottled water—and she is on the bottler’s side.

And it isn’t only work. It’s her sister, her friends, even her husband, James, with whom she doesn’t connect the way she used to. She doesn’t connect to much in her life, period, with the exception of three things—her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.

Acting on impulse, Emily leaves work early one day, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off. Groping toward the future, uncharacteristically following her gut rather than her mind, she heads north toward a New Hampshire town tucked between mountains. She knows this town. During her college years, she spent a watershed summer here. Painful as it is to return, she knows that if she is to right her life, she has to start here.

Tags: Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Marriages on the Rocks


(10) Nate Pearson from Only You (One & Only #1) by Melanie Harlow (2018)

Nate Pearson is ridiculously handsome and wears the hell out of a suit and tie, but I’ve seen the parade of beautiful women leaving his apartment across the hall—a different one every time—and I want no part of it. When it comes to romance, I’m looking for something real, something that will last: the happily ever after.

As a divorce attorney, he loves to tell me there’s no such thing.

As a wedding planner, I choose to disagree.

We disagree on almost everything, in fact. Everything except James Bond. The only time we really get along is when we’re watching 007 flicks together, and I’ll admit—he has rescued me from a disaster or five. So when one of the baton twirlers from his parade leaves a baby girl at his door with a note that says “I’ll come back for her” and he begs me for help, I can’t turn him down.

But it’s a mistake.

Because watching him with his daughter, I start to see another side of Nate, a side that has my breath coming faster, my body craving his, my heart longing for him to change his mind about love and tell me there’s a chance for us.

I don’t want to be just another girl leaving his apartment in the morning.

I want to be the one he asks to stay.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Secret Babies


(11) Kailyn Flowers from Meet Cute by Helena Hunting (2019)

Talk about an embarrassing introduction. On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran quite literally into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either…

Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can’t help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn’s new celebrity client, there’s even more at stake than Dax’s custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she’ll be promoted to partner.

The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Guardians / Hollywood / Second Chance


(12) Lucas Donovan from Taco Bout Love (The Donovans #1) by Lily Kate (2023)

My name is Lucas Donovan, and I’m a sucker for a great taco.

No, that’s not an innuendo, though I do like my women like I like my tacos: extra spicy. So when a brand new food truck rolls into our sleepy little town of Fantasie, Maine, I know I’m in trouble. I just don’t know how much trouble.

Things go downhill fast when I meet Chloe Brown, the sizzling hot and super sassy owner of Taco Bout Love who is as extra as guac. Then out of the blue, Chloe plops her huge purple eyesore of a truck in my designated parking spot. I’m sorely tempted to have her truck towed, and her right along with it.

Unfortunately, Chloe’s as fierce as a ghost pepper, and she’s not going down without a fight. Before I know it, the only thing I’m certain of is that this woman drives me crazy… in the best way possible. What’s more is that I’m beginning to think I just might miss her when she’s gone.

Suddenly, I can’t seem to keep my hands off Chloe Brown… or her tacos.

Tags: Chefs / Favourite Series


(13) Jensen Bergstrom from Beautiful (Beautiful Bastard #5) by Christina Lauren (2016)

After walking in on her boyfriend shagging another girl in their place, Pippa Cox ditches London for the States to go on a drunken road trip with friends.

Scaling the career ladder is the default way to deal with heartbreak—and to just deal—for Jensen Bergstrom. Absolutely buried by his drive and workload, he rarely takes time for himself. But when his sister Hanna convinces him to join the gang on a two-week wine tour, he has a rare moment of cutting loose. Of course, it’s only once he’s committed that he realizes the strange girl he met briefly on the plane is coming along, too. She might be too much for him…or he might realize his life has become too small and needs her to make it bigger, crazier.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Road Trip


(14) Katherine Tate from Emergency Contact by Lauren Layne (2023)

Katherine, an ambitious NYC attorney, gets diagnosed with a concussion and must be monitored for 48 hours to make sure it doesn’t get worse. Unfortunately, she forgot to update her emergency contact so the person they call is her ex-husband, Tom. Unable to be left alone, Katherine reluctantly agrees to travel to Chicago with Tom for the holidays. But thanks to a blizzard, what should have been a quick plane ride turns into an antagonistic overnight misadventure that stirs up old feelings even as Tom prepares to propose to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve.

Tags: Christmas / Favourite Author / Five Star Reads / Road Trips / Second Chance / Vegas Weddings


(15) Colin Walsh from The Prenup by Lauren Layne (2019)

My name is Charlotte Spencer and, ten years ago, I married my brother’s best friend. I haven’t seen him since.

Charlotte Spencer grew up on the blue-blooded Upper East Side of Manhattan but she never wanted the sit-still-look-pretty future her parents dictated for her. Enter Colin Walsh, her brother’s quiet, brooding, man-bun-sporting best friend, and with him a chance to escape.

He’s far from Charlotte’s dream guy but they need each other for one thing: marriage. One courthouse wedding later, Charlotte’s inheritance is hers to start a business in San Francisco and Irish-born Colin has a Green Card.

Ten years later, Colin drops a bombshell: the terms of their prenup state that before either can file for divorce, they have to live under the same roof for three months.

Suddenly this match made in practicality is about to take on whole new meaning…

Tags: Brother’s Best Friend / Favourite Author / Five Star Reads / Marriages of Convenience


(16) Andrew Mulroney from Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly #4) by Lauren Layne (2017)

Pampered heiress Georgianna Watkins has a party-girl image to maintain, but all the shopping and clubbing is starting to feel a little bit hollow – and a whole lot lonely. Though Georgie would never admit it, the highlights of her week are the mornings when she comes home at the same time as her uptight, workaholic neighbour is leaving to hit the gym and put in a long day at the office. Teasing him is the most fun Georgie’s had in years – and the fuel for all her naughtiest daydreams.

Celebrity divorce attorney Andrew Mulroney doesn’t have much time for women, especially spoiled tabloid princesses who spend more time on Page Six than at an actual job. Although Georgie’s drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also everything Andrew resents: the type of girl who inherited her penthouse instead of earning it. But after Andrew caps one of their predawn sparring sessions with a surprise kiss-a kiss that’s caught on camera-all of Manhattan is gossiping about whether they’re a real couple. And nobody’s more surprised than Andrew to find that the answer just might be yes.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads


(17) Daniel from New York, Actually (From Manhattan with Love #4) by Sarah Morgan (2017)

Meet Molly: New York’s most famous agony aunt, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s. The only love of her life is her Dalmatian, Valentine.

Meet Daniel: A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no-one can get hurt. But then he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…

Molly and Daniel think they know everything there is to know about relationships…until they meet each other that is…

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Pupsters


(18) Owen Salt from Begin Again (Stay #3.6) by Jennifer Probst (2020)

Chloe Lake is finally living her dream. As the daughter of the Governor, she’s consistently in the spotlight, and after being dubbed the Most Eligible Bachelorette of NYC, both her career and personal life has exploded. Fortunately, her work as an advocate for animal welfare requires constant publicity and funding, so she embraces her role and plays for the camera—anything for the sake of her beloved rescues.

But when a big case is on the line, she’s faced with the one obstacle she never counted on: the boy who broke her heart is back, and in order to gain justice, they need to work together.

Chloe swears she can handle it until old feelings resurface, and she’s faced with a heartbreaking choice.

Will this time end differently—or are they destined to be only each other’s first love—instead of forever?

Owen Salt fell hard for Chloe when he was a screwed-up kid in college, and spent the next years changing himself into the man his grandfather believed he was capable of. But when his career led him across the country, he knew he needed to leave the woman he loved behind. He’s never forgotten her, but as the new darling of the press, now, she’s way out of his league. When work brings him back to fight for justice by her side, he swears he can handle it.

But he’s never really gotten over his first love—and he wants one more opportunity to prove he’s a man who’s worthy.

Can Owen convince the woman who holds his heart to take a second chance on forever—or is it too late for them both?

Tags: Favourite Authors / Favourite Series / Office Romance / Pupsters / Second Chance


Posted in Happy When It Rains, Ohana Girls

Rain Day

Pluviophile

Photo Credit: Kelly Ritta (Pexels / Instagram)

The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected; I have always considered the rain to be healing—a blanket—the comfort of a friend. Without at least some rain in any given day, or at least a cloud or two on the horizon, I feel overwhelmed by the information of sunlight and yearn for the vital, muffling gift of falling water – Douglas Coupland (Life After God)

As a self-confessed pluviophile, of course I’ve got to celebrate Rain Day (29 July).

It doesn’t matter where any of my books are set (whether it’s Manchester, England or Oahu, Hawaii), my characters had better be carrying an umbrella with them because at some point it’s going to rain.

Rain Day

Rain Day began all the way back in the 1870s in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania when local farmer, Caleb Ely remarked to William Allison (who owned the drugstore in Waynesburg) that it always seemed to rain on his birthday (29 July). With his curiosity piqued, William decided to start keeping a record of the rainfall every year on 29 July (starting in 1874) and the practice was continued by his brother, Albert and then Byron Daily.

It turns out Caleb was right because it has rained in Waynesburg on 29 July for 117 out of the 149 years since William began keeping records.

Rain Day continued as just a local event in Waynesburg until the 1930s when John O’Hara sent stories about Rain Day to other newspapers and it grew so popular that media outlets from around the world began contacting Waynesburg every year to find out if it was raining on 29 July.

Waynesburg, PA still celebrates 29 July every year with a Rain Day Festival including fireworks, musical performances and contests (Little Miss Rain Drop, Window Decorating, Baby Rain Day and Umbrella Decorating).

Happy When It Rains

Rainy days are the perfect excuse for snuggling under the duvet with your favourite book. ‘Happy When It Rains’ is my love letter to Manchester, England and is perfect for Rain Day because the city is famous for its rain.

Happy When It Rains (Ohana Girls #4)

If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:

1) She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;

2) She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;

3) She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.

Rainy Day Songs

The title for ‘Happy When It Rains’ came from the 1995 song, ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ by Garbage.

For more on My Favourite Rainy Day Songs, check out A Pluviophile’s Dream – Part 1 and Part 2.


Posted in Ohana Girls

National Cousins Day x Ohana Girls

Lola

It’s Monday so earlier today I posted the latest instalment of A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books but you know how much I love Days of the Year (still #notanad) so I’m double-stacking posts again.

Today (24 July) is National Cousins Day.

Confession: I don’t actually have any 1st cousins because I’m an only child of an only child and if you’ve ever seen Encanto (2021), my dad’s side of the family is basically Bruno (aka we don’t talk about them).

Maybe because I don’t have any, I knew when I first started writing My First Half (Cate & Kian #1) that I really wanted Cate to have siblings.

I really like series about extended families and different generations like With Me in Seattle and the 2nd generation Single in Seattle by Kristen Proby and Cloverleigh Farms by Melanie Harlow.

After I finished writing Monsters & Angels (Cate & Kian #7), I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the Klein-Warners and I really felt like Cate & Kian’s daughter, Lola would have a story to tell so I started writing Nobody’s Fantasy, which became the first in the Ohana Girls Series.

The dictionary definition of Ohana is “a Hawaiian word which refers to a person’s extended family, which can include friends and other important social groups” (Dictionary.com).

If you want to find out more about the Klein-Warners, check out their Family Tree.

Given that the 5 x young women in the Ohana Girls Series are all either siblings, 1st cousins or cousins through their relationships, National Cousins Day feels like the perfect day to celebrate my Ohana Girls (Lola, Amelie, Sofia, Emmy & Sierra).


(1) Nobody’s Fantasy (2018)

It’s a warm, sultry night in Miami and Lola Warner has her whole life ahead of her – she’s just graduated from college and is due to fly to London the next morning to take up one of the many offers she’s had to play football. But everything changes in an instant when a drunk-driver mounts the sidewalk and crashes into her, leaving her with career-ending injuries. Struggling to cope with losing everything she’s always dreamed of, her parents suggest she makes a fresh start in Hawaii where her younger brother is attending college.

Now known as ‘Jane’ (her middle name), she meets Zev, a handsome tattoo artist who understands what she’s going through. He introduces her to tattoos and piercings and slowly, ink by ink, she starts to reclaim her damaged body and build a new life for herself in Oahu.

But Jane and Zev are keeping secrets from each other and when the truth comes to light, it will break them apart just when they need each other the most.


(2) Living My Best Life (2019)

Amelie is Lola’s cousin on her dad’s side (Lola’s dad & Amelie’s mom are brother & sister).

I’m Amelie Corelli and I used to be one-half of Amelix, the most irritating social media brand in history. And when I say irritating, I mean it literally. We make your skin break out in hives.

Since Felix, my ex-fiancé and the Lix to my Ame (yes, I totally get how ridiculous that sounds) sold me out to make a deal, I’ve escaped to my aunt’s cabin in the depths of Southern California with only one other cabin in a ten-mile radius.

Here, I’m free to walk around with no make-up and chipped nail varnish (gasp!), sing off-key to the cheesiest 80’s pop songs and figure out what the heck I’m going to do with the rest of my life without being hounded by paparazzi.

The only problem is the universe seems hell-bent on throwing me together with the grumpy farmer next door, who along with a delicious set of abs, is keeping a couple of secrets of his own.


(3) Los Angeles, I’m Yours (2020)

Sofia is Lola’s cousin on her mom’s side (their moms, Cate & Liv, are sisters).

Sofia Taylor might live in L.A. and be the daughter of rock royalty but that doesn’t mean that she wants to be in the spotlight. She’s designed her life to be quiet and simple, content with working in the mail room at Andretti Records while secretly writing most of the company’s hit songs in her backyard studio under the pseudonym, S Klein.

Dylan Andrews ditched his father’s conspicuous last name as soon as he graduated from high school and has spent the last few years building a successful career in publishing on the opposite side of the country in Manhattan. When he’s summoned back to L.A. he understands that he’s going to be taking over as CEO of his father’s company, Andretti Records but he’s left stunned when his father insists that he go through a fake internship in the mail room first so he can learn more about the company.

Sofia is asked to mentor Dylan and they quickly bond over Frida Kahlo street art, grilled coconut milk and five-spice pork buns. Their friendship blossoms into romance as they explore downtown L.A. together but what will happen when the secrets they’ve both been keeping are finally revealed?

If you’re looking for a fun, flirty romance to brighten up a dull, rainy day, why not join Sofia and Dylan as they discover a terrifying glass slide, a house of mosaics, chicken curry on a pizza and lots more oddities in sunny L.A.


(4) Happy When It Rains (2021)

Lola’s love interest in ‘Nobody’s Fantasy’ is Zev, Emmy’s cousin.

If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:

  1. She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;
  2. She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;
  3. She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.


(5) Five Things (2021)

Lola & Sierra are sisters.

I’m Sierra Warner and this is the latest in a long line of things that aren’t supposed to happen to me.

Didn’t whoever’s up there read the script?

My brain should not be broken, I should be blazing a trail through college and my boyfriend definitely shouldn’t have humiliated me by making a freaking sex tape with another girl while we’re supposedly on a break.

Sierra Warner’s got the perfect life… hasn’t she?

A big, crazy family and the support of her fellow Ohana Girls. High-school valedictorian, accepted into her first-choice college in L.A and a famous soccer player boyfriend.

Underneath all that perfection however, she’s hiding a dark secret. She’s struggling with chronic anxiety, has been stealing prescription meds and is on the verge of flunking out of college.

The road to recovery will take her from Miami to Seattle, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Manchester. Along the way she’ll realise that it’s OK to ask for help, a broken hip isn’t that different from a broken brain and sometimes love comes with a helping of homemade chimichurri.


Posted in Book Lists

My Favourite Fictional Tattoo Artists

If I’m ever struggling for inspiration for blog posts, Days of the Year (this isn’t an ad I promise) usually come up with some really great prompts and today is no exception because did you know that Monday 17 July 2023 is National Tattoo Day. Even though I’m too much of a scaredy cat to get one myself, I love tattoos so much that I even wrote 2 x books about tattoo artists (see below).

I’ve never met a Book List I didn’t like so of course I had to put together a list of My Favourite Fictional Tattoo Artists to celebrate National Tattoo Day.

I’m going to start with my own books: ‘Nobody’s Fantasy’ and ‘Happy When It Rains’ both of which feature badass tattoo artists (Zev and Emmy).

***UPDATED 18 JANUARY 2024***


(1) Zev Montgomery from Nobody’s Fantasy (Ohana Girls #1) (2020)

Series: ‘Nobody’s Fantasy’ (#1), Living My Best Life (#2), Los Angeles, I’m Yours (#3), ‘Happy When It Rains’ (#4) & Five Things (#5)

Tattoos can serve lots of different purposes and in ‘Nobody’s Fantasy,’ Lola uses them to reclaim ownership of her body after she was hit by a drunk driver and suffered career-ending leg injuries.

It’s a warm, sultry night in Miami and Lola Warner has her whole life ahead of her – she’s just graduated from college and is due to fly to London the next morning to take up one of the many offers she’s had to play football. But everything changes in an instant when a drunk-driver mounts the sidewalk and crashes into her, leaving her with career-ending injuries. Struggling to cope with losing everything she’s always dreamed of, her parents suggest she makes a fresh start in Hawaii where her younger brother is attending college.

Now known as ‘Jane’ (her middle name), she meets Zev, a handsome tattoo artist who understands what she’s going through. He introduces her to tattoos and piercings and slowly, ink by ink, she starts to reclaim her damaged body and build a new life for herself in Oahu.

But Jane and Zev are keeping secrets from each other and when the truth comes to light, it will break them apart just when they need each other the most.


(2) Emmy Montgomery from Happy When It Rains (Ohana Girls #4) (2021)

In ‘Happy When It Rains,’ tattoos are used to recreate the nipple and areola as part of the reconstruction process for patients who’ve had them removed after a mastectomy. You can find out more about the real-life procedure at Breast Cancer.org.

If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:

  1. She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;
  2. She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;
  3. She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.


(3) Jack Dunne from Last Call at the Local (Love, Lists & Fancy Ships #3) by Sarah Grunder Ruiz (2024)

Raine Hart is used to the challenges of living with ADHD. It’s why she ditched her life in Boston to busk around Europe as a traveling musician. No boss. No schedule. No one to disappoint but herself. But when a careless mistake in Ireland leaves her unable to perform, she sees no other option but to give up her nomadic life.

Since inheriting the Local, Jack Dunne has wanted to make the pub his own. But the baggage of running a family business and the intrusive thoughts that stem from his OCD make changing things a challenge.

Over a pint with handsome, tattooed Jack, Raine accidentally insults him and the pub. Instead of taking offense, Jack, impressed by her vision of what the pub could be, offers her a job bringing it to life.

But when Raine and Jack develop feelings for one another their opposite lifestyles won’t accommodate, it becomes clear the pub isn’t the only thing that needs reinventing. As the end of their business collaboration draws near, they’ll have to find a way past the limits they’ve placed on themselves or let go of a love that could last a lifetime.


(4) Joel Anderson from Tonic (aka Frisky Business) (Tonic #1) by Staci Hart (2016)

Joel Anderson doesn’t take anything seriously.

Not his relationships, which have been few and far between since his brutal divorce. Not the drama of working in a tattoo parlor, which seems to be around every corner. When things get him down, he smiles and cracks a joke. But he’s not the kind of man you cross, or you’ll find yourself at the wrong end of his fists.

Annika Belousov takes everything seriously.

Like her job as a reality television producer, given that she typically has something to prove. Or her love life, which is defined by a series of requirements — affluent, ambitious, accomplished, to name a few. Definitely her family, who worked their whole lives to afford her every opportunity, a sacrifice she doesn’t take lightly. When she’s tapped to produce a reality show at Joel’s shop, she doesn’t think twice, just goes in for the kill, as if there were any other way.

The second Annika walks into Joel’s shop, he makes it his mission to crack her open, but she’s not having it. He’s all wrong — too crass, too hairy, too un-serious. But it doesn’t take her long to find out there’s more to him than smirks and tattoos. And what she finds could put her career and his heart on the line.

Not that Joel cares. Because for the first time in a long time, he’s found his tonic.


(5) Penny from Bad Penny (aka Down and Flirty) (Tonic #2) by Staci Hart (2017)

She says she has a three date rule. She thinks she doesn’t do serious. She thinks she’s prepared for me.

And I’m about to prove her wrong.

Penny has no idea I’m the chubby, nerdy kid she went to high school with—I shed that baby fat on a surfboard after graduation, though I am still a massive nerd, spending the bulk of my time and energy coding my video game. The last thing I expect to find in New York is her.

The second I see her smile, I recognize her: the girl I’d crushed on since sophomore year. The girl who dated the biggest asshole in our school—the same guy who might have ruined her for me.

She can tell herself all day that she won’t fall for me, but she doesn’t stand a chance. Because I know exactly what I want, and it’s her. And I’ll do whatever it takes to have her.

But everyone has limits, and Penny will test mine. And the moment I have her heart in my hand is the moment I stand to lose her forever.


(6) Patrick ‘Tricky’ Evans from Last Call (Bad Habits #3) by Staci Hart (2016)

If you’ve read A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books – H, you’ll know that Staci Hart is one of my favourite authors and out of the 24 x books of hers I’ve read so far, ‘Last Call’ is my absolute favourite. Ugh, putting together this blog post definitely isn’t helping Me vs My TBR because all I want to do is go back and reread all my favourites.

Series: With a Twist (#1), Chaser (#2) & Happily Ever Habits (#3.5)

Once Rose Fisher makes a decision, that’s it. End of story.

Like when her ex, Patrick, dumped her out of the blue, then showed up with a super-hot, tatted up sex kitten on his arm. Then it was over for good. The end. Poof. Dead to her. Except he was everywhere — down the hall, at the bar with their friends, worming his way into her dreams.

But with their friends paired off, they’re left alone more and more. Rose is determined to keep him friend-zoned — doesn’t matter that he stares at her with a smoulder that drops all panties in a ten foot radius. She’s over him, and she’ll prove it by getting back into the dating game, Patrick be damned.

Patrick Evans is no stranger to consequences. When your mother walks out, your dad drifts away. When you leave home, you’re on your own. And when you run away from the girl you love, you lose her. He finally has an opportunity to rebuild the bridge he burned, and it’s not one he’ll take for granted. But he’ll have to fight for her, even if it hurts. Even if it means he’ll walk away broken-hearted. Because deep down, he knows that she’s it for him.

The trick will be to get her to admit she feels it too.


(7) Teo from Love & Ink by J.D. Hawkins (2018) (A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books – H)

The only thing more permanent than tattoos is love–and she’s inked all over my heart.

I’ve spent the last seven years screwing half the women in the northern hemisphere, but nobody comes close to the girl I left behind. In the meantime, I’ve built my reputation as a world-renowned tattoo artist with a six-month waitlist.

All of LA is begging me to put my mark on them.

The last thing I expect is for Ash Carter to walk into my shop and blow me off.

She doesn’t know I left her to protect her. That she was my entire world, and that was my only choice. That it was a mistake I’ve regretted every day for seven years.

Now she’s back, and she’s everything I remember–stubborn, feisty, sexy as hell. And I’ll do anything to make her mine again.

But how can I convince Ash to forgive and forget when I can’t even forgive myself?


(8) Miles ‘Ox’ Oxford from Ink (7th and Main #1) by Elizabeth Hunter (2017)

Elizabeth Hunter is another of my A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books – H and it’s primarily because of ‘Ink.’ After ‘Happy When It Rains,’ I’m automatically predisposed to automatically adore FMCs called Emmy (regardless of spelling) and what could be better than a bookstore/tattoo parlour combo? Please tell me Metlin is a real place and I can visit?

It’s everything but business as usual.

Emmie Elliot hadn’t expected to come back to Metlin, California. She definitely didn’t expect to stay. She returned to her childhood home with a mission: Sell the building that housed her grandmother’s book store and move on with her life.

But life doesn’t always go according to plan.

To reopen her grandmother’s book shop, Emmie will need a hook. She’ll need a strategy. She’ll need an… Ox?

Miles Oxford doesn’t have much interest in quiet bookstore owners. He’s a tattoo artist without a space to work, and the last thing he wants is to get involved with anyone after his last disaster of a relationship. Work and pleasure don’t mix for Ox, but since he doesn’t have any interest in the cute girl with the bold business proposal, he should be safe from any awkward complications, right?

She sells ink. He tattoos it. Unusual? Yes. But a book shop/tattoo studio might be the ticket for both Emmie and Ox to find success on their own terms. As long as they keep their attention focused on business.

Just on business.


(9) Spider Villalobos from Sweet (7th and Main #4) by Elizabeth Hunter (2021)

He survived by always being in control.

She’s about to make him melt.

It’s 2004, and Daisy Rivera knows two things: she’s going to end up disappointing her parents’ fondest hopes and dreams in roughly six months, and somehow she’s going to figure out how to kiss the mysterious tattoo artist two shops down from her grandmother’s café that everyone calls Spider.

Spider Villalobos knows one thing: if he gives into temptation and makes a move on Daisy, his fresh start is over.

Their shops may be neighbours in Metlin, but their lives are worlds apart.


(10) Roxy Quinn from Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan (2018)

If you like your Fictional Tattoo Artists with a side order of kink, ‘Strictly Professional’ is the perfect book for you. Roxy & Edward also make guest appearances in Not the Marrying Kind, which features Roxy’s buttoned-up sister, Fiona and bad boy Max.

It was supposed to be a one-night stand. Lust was the only thing they had in common.

Roxy Quinn—tattooed goddess, daughter of punk rockers, and beautiful badass—thought she’d never see Edward Cavendish III again. The wealthy, British hotelier wandered into her dingy New York City tattoo parlour, a little drunk and a lot broken-hearted. And very, very charming.

After a night of panty-disintegrating passion, Roxy sends him on his way. She has zero time to pursue the suit-wearing sex god. Not when her business is failing. Not when her employees are counting on her.

After a lifetime trapped in his parents’ legacy, Edward’s rendezvous with the scowling vixen is a glimpse of glorious freedom. But it’s not freedom he needs now. What he needs is to find the right wife to fulfil the terms of his trust fund before he loses it all. Roxy, with her ripped stockings and delectable secret piercings, is definitely not that kind of wife.

But their paths cross again when Edward and Roxy are inconveniently paired up in a business school mentoring program. It has to be a strictly professional relationship. No kissing. No sex.

Definitely no dark alley trysts after dancing together all night. Oops…


(11) Jagger from Pierced Ink by Dani René (2017)

‘Pierced Ink’ is a micro-romance (designed to be read in 1-2 hours), it’s extra-spicy like ‘Strictly Professional’ and features an angsty, second-chance romance like ‘Love & Ink’.

If you’re in the mood for a short and extra-spicy novella then Pierced Ink is perfect for you.

Ava was the only woman to really get me. She broke down the walls I built up and burrowed herself beneath the surface. She became a part of me. There’s no other way to describe her, or us.

Everything about her drew me in. From her captivating smile to those nipple piercings she used to love me tugging on. Her body is pure perfection—smooth tanned skin covered in ink I gave her, and surface piercings on either hip I loved to tease with my tongue.

Two years ago, at the height of our love—the height of us—she woke up and packed her stuff into a single small suitcase.

The next moments passed by in a blur. And then she was gone. No explanation. Nothing but an empty room.

My world crashed around me and I let it. I let her walk out.

Two years without a word from her—until today. Ava’s back in my shop, on her knees, begging me to mark her once again.


(12) Ed Larsen from Repeat (Larsen Brothers #1) by Kylie Scott (2019)

Series: Pause (#2)

I haven’t got up to the letter S yet in my A-Z: Favourite Authors & Books but rest assured when I do, Kylie Scott will definitely be included. Thanks to my Mills & Boon addiction (#sorrynotsorry), I’m a sucker for the amnesia trope and ‘Repeat’ definitely didn’t disappoint. It was one of My Favourite Books of 2021. I was rooting for Clem and Ed from the very beginning. Despite their nasty break-up, it was obvious that they still loved each other and were destined to end up together. Ed was such a gentleman because even though he was scarred by their break-up, he was still stubbornly determined to do the right thing by Clem. Clem 2.0 was so different to the one Ed and his friends remembered from before she was attacked and lost her memory, I just knew there had to be something else going on.

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she’s forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did – which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.

Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlour with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can’t seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?


(13) Cole Walker from Echoes of Scotland Street (On Dublin Street #5) by Samantha Young (2014)

Series: On Dublin Street (#1), Until Fountain Bridge (#1.5), Down London Road (#2), Before Jamaica Lane (#3), Castle Hill (#3.5), Fall from India Place (#4), Valentine (#5.5), Moonlight on Nightingale Way (#6), One Kings Way (#6.5) & Stars Over Castle Hill (#6.6).

I’m definitely a fan of series like this with interconnected characters and ‘On Dublin Street’ is one of My 5 Favourite Re-Reads.

Shannon MacLeod has always gone for the wrong type of man. After she drifted from one toxic relationship to the next, her last boyfriend gave her a wakeup call in the worst possible way. With her world shattered, she’s sworn off men—especially those of the bad-boy variety.

Cole Walker is exactly the sort that Shannon wants to avoid—gorgeous, tattooed, charming, and cocky. But his rough exterior hides a good man who’s ready to find “the one.” He’s determined to pull Shannon from her self-imposed solitude and win her heart.

As Shannon opens up in the face of Cole’s steady devotion, the passion between them ignites to blazing levels. But when Shannon’s past comes back to haunt her, her fears may destroy the trust Cole has built between them—and tear them apart for good…


(14) Dex Locke from Under Locke by Mariana Zapata (2014)

IMO you can never go wrong with a MZ book.

He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a Widower, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.

After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly… even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time.

And the last thing they ever expected was each other.

But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop.

… She should have chosen the strip club.


Posted in Happy When It Rains, Ohana Girls

International Body Piercing Day

Free Woman With Yellow Paint On The Face Stock Photo

Photo Credit: Rodolfo Clix (Website / Instagram / Pexels)

Today (28th June) is International Body Piercing Day (scroll down for more info on IBPD) which seems like the perfect opportunity to celebrate one of my favourite MCs, Ms. Emmy Montgomery from Happy When It Rains, who’s snarky, rebellious, kind-hearted and a total badass with a piercing needle. ‘Happy When It Rains’ is available to buy now from Amazon (UK / US) and it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited.


If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:
1. She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;
2. She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;
3. She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.


International Body Piercing Day (IBPD)

IBPD is dedicated to JIM WARD, described in MTV News: The Social History of Piercing (2004) as the “Granddaddy of the Modern Body Piercing Movement.”

Jim was born in 1941 in Western Oklahoma and after experimenting with piercings as a member of the New York Motorbike & Rocky Mountaineer Motorcycle Clubs; in 1973 he moved to West Hollywood and met entrepreneur, RICHARD SIMONTON (aka Doug Malloy) (1915-79).

Doug was interested in alternative lifestyles and had travelled through Asia exploring non-Western ideas. He was an early patron of the body modification scene and his network of contacts included HORST STRECKENBACH (aka Tattoo Samy) (1925-2001), ALAN OVERSBY (aka Mr Sebastian) (1933-96), ROLAND LOOMIS (aka Fakir Musafar) (1930-2018) & SAILOR SID DILLER.

In 1975, with funding from Doug, Jim opened the world’s 1st body piercing studio titled The Gauntlet. At first The Gauntlet operated out of Jim’s WeHo home before on 17 November 1978, opening their 1st commercial storefront at 8720 Santa Monica Boulevard.

From 1977-97, The Gauntlet published PFIQ (Piercing Fans International Quarterly), which was the 1st publication about body piercing.

Notable piercers from The Gauntlet include ELAYNE ANGEL (Author of The Piercing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing) & MICHAELA GREY (Founder of the Association of Professional Piercers & Co-Author (with Jim Ward) of Responsible Body Piercing).

Elayne talks about her experiences of working at The Gauntlet in this interview with Piercing with Scott:

Sadly after having financial difficulties, The Gauntlet closed in 1998 but if you want to learn more about Jim & the history of The Gauntlet, check out Running The Gauntlet (Warning: NSFW).

All the best, Louise x