We’re super excited that we can finally reveal the December authors and the friends to lovers novellas they wrote for Happily Ever After Collective patrons!
Jingle All The Way by Scarlett Cole
All Nova Williams wants is a magical first Christmas on board her narrowboat, Majestic. Movies, carols, and a hint of sparkle. Until her best friend, Hollywood A-lister and Christmas hater Presley James, hammers on her door in the middle of the night. Only now, he’s looking at her in ways that make her believe Christmas wishes do sometimes come true. All Presley wants is to hide from the press and save his detonated career. Except the confined space of Majestic must be messing with his brain. Surely he doesn’t really want to kiss his best friend, until he finds himself doing just that as their feelings boil over. When Presley’s agent suggests a fake relationship with a leading actress to save his career, he faces a choice. Stay with Nova and lose the career he loves, or go back to LA and lose the woman he’s falling in love with. Content Warning: None
Amethyst by Helen Hardt
His best friend disappeared before he could profess his love… Max Robinson is climbing the ladder of success in a career he loves, is engaged to be married, and has finally put the past behind him…just to have it crash back into his life in the form of Jenna Holland. Jenna and Max were best friends for fifteen years before she mysteriously disappeared before their senior prom—when Max was going to profess his love. Jenna has been through a year of intensive therapy after being held captive on a South Pacific island for seven years where she was forced to submit to the warped desires of men who paid millions for the privilege. She’s filled with gratitude to be alive and healthy, and she’s determined to move forward with her life. Only her best friend, Max, can help Jenna heal. But their friendship may not survive her request. Content Warning: Adult language and scenes, including flashbacks of physical and sexual abuse.
Object Of My (Next Door) Obsession by Kharma Kelley
Ivy has been enjoying having her best friend, Jude as her neighbor. He’s smart, sexy, and painfully charismatic, and she can’t seem to get him out of her head. Thick as thieves, she’d love to make a move, but it seems as if her super-hot next-door neighbor has a secret… Jude was supposed to be laying low, however, nothing prepared him to live next door to the woman of his dreams. Caring, gorgeous and deliciously nerdy, it becomes a challenge to keep up the facade around her as they become increasingly closer. But Jude’s past is not far behind him, waiting in the shadows and soon he’ll have to make a decision: Reveal who and what he is or lose Ivy forever. Content Warning: Murder; gore; torture; some ableist language; racial slur; sex; swearing; police harassment.
Luke And Billy Finally Get A Clue by Cat Sebastian
North Carolina, 1953 Billy’s spent the past five years trying and failing to keep his teammate Luke at arm’s length—or at least a normal, friendly distance. Or, failing that, he’d like to not make a fool of himself. But when Luke shows up at Billy’s isolated house in the mountains just as a storm’s about to roll in, Billy can’t even pretend not to have feelings that go beyond what he ought to feel for a teammate. Meanwhile, Luke’s acting strange and Billy doesn’t know why. And Billy can’t seem to fight the urge to make Luke sandwiches and hot cocoa, lend him cozy sweaters, and watch him play with the dogs. It’s all pretty terrible, and the one thing Billy’s sure of is that things between them are going to be different after all this is over. Content Warning: References to period-typical homophobia, fear of being outed, a character with a head injury, a pregnant secondary character and mild concern related to that character’s wellbeing, references to the past neglect of a child, and on-page sex.
Become a Patron today to get this novella and enjoy all of the other Happily Ever After Collective benefits!