My Vegas Groom

Waking up next to a stranger wearing a wedding ring was not on the itinerary. I came to Las Vegas for a quick girl’s trip, but somehow ended up a married woman. What I thought would stay in Vegas followed me back to my small town of Sunrise Bay, Alaska. Of course, my new husband—MMA champion fighter, Logan Stone—couldn’t find me alone at my house to tell me he wants to give our impromptu nuptials a shot. He has to tell me in front of my entire family and half the town. The two of us couldn’t be more opposite, but he offers me a deal I can’t refuse which involves me pretending we’re happily married for three months. Yeah, a lot of things can change in that short amount of time, most importantly catching feelings for a man whose lifestyle I despise.

I never felt truly desired by a man—until him. The second he stepped foot into my small town Alaskan inn, his gaze swept over my curvy figure with desire, igniting a flame I thought was dead. He flirted with me, and I might’ve left two chocolates on his pillow at turndown, but that’s where it stayed. Over the years, he’s floated in and out of town while a friendship developed between us. It’s probably for the best because I’m not a one-night stand kind of woman. Which is funny because when he propositions me to be his fake fiancé in order to end a family feud, it turns out I am the kind of woman willing to pretend to be the one he’s in love with.

The perfect man for me is the one who broke my heart. #thanksbutnothanks Once bitten. Twice shy. Yeah, I wish. I’m on a mission to find myself a nice, solid, respectable man. The only problem is nice, solid, and respectable comes in a meh package and is B-O-R-I-N-G as hell. It’s been established. I have one type. Bad Boy. I tried the other flavors, I really did. But there’s nothing like the allure of a man who takes what he wants without apology. As if my love life isn’t dramatic enough, Dean Bennett walks into my life again thinking he’s going to win me back with his charm and charisma. He might come in a different package, but under that expensive suit he’s still the same cocky, arrogant, pompous prick who only cares about numero uno. I’m not that naïve young girl anymore so I have to ignore the fact that the way he looks at me practically sets my panties on fire. Everyone deserves a second chance to right a wrong. The problem? He’s not just an ex-boyfriend… He’s my ex-husband. Note to readers: This book was previously titled Afternoon Delight (Charity Case #2).

Xavier and Clara kissing in a tree… When your best friend growing up is a girl, that’s the song your classmates taunt you with over and over again. But it was never like that… until now. It’s always been Clara and me. She’s the only one who truly knows me. After I was drafted into the NFL and ended up the starting quarterback for the San Francisco Kingsmen, I begged her to come with me. But she had her own life and responsibilities back in our small Alaskan town, so I didn’t fault her for staying. We remained the best of friends despite the distance. I’d hang with her in Alaska during the off season, and she’d visit me in California while I was playing. Then, one night the lines blurred for the briefest of moments and set in motion a series of events that changed everything. I’m not proud of the decisions I made after that fateful night, and I plan on making amends, because I need Clara back in my life. But not as my best friend—as my everything.

Hollywood heartthrob, Gavin Price invaded our small town, Sunrise Bay, like he owned it. Gavin was my biggest celebrity crush when I was young. He bears the charisma of an easygoing boy-next-door mixed with a rule-breaker personality both in person and on screen. For a moment, I thought maybe my fairy godmother sent him to me. Until he decided to run against my mother for mayor. Everyone in our town knows my mom’s happiness comes before my own, so I take it as my personal mission to show him who really runs this town. I just didn’t realize that being my mom’s right-hand woman would put me in such close proximity to him. Very quickly, I question whether he wants to win the mayoral race or me.

On the Las Vegas Strip, blockbuster casinos burst out of the desert, billboards promise "hot babes," actual hot babes proffer complimentary drinks, and a million happy slot machines ring day and night. It’s loud and excessive, but, as the Project on Vegas demonstrates, the Strip is not a world apart. Combining written critique with more than one hundred photographs by Karen Klugman, Strip Cultures examines the politics of food and water, art and spectacle, entertainment and branding, body and sensory experience. In confronting the ordinary on America’s most famous four-mile stretch of pavement, the authors reveal how the Strip concentrates and magnifies the basic truths and practices of American culture where consumerism is the stuff of life, digital surveillance annuls the right to privacy, and nature—all but destroyed—is refashioned as an element of decor.