Cirrus@Austlit

'Noelle

'I was having a very bad day. The worst day of my life. With only eight weeks left until my thirtieth birthday (oh, and Christmas) I was determined to cram every last ounce of fun into my life before I officially became an 'adult'. But my pursuit of the perfect lead-up to my thirtieth birthday was ruined when I turned up at work to find out I no longer had a job. Then I got home to find my boyfriend in bed with someone else. I didn’t hang around for his explanation, instead packing my stuff and walking out, leaving him and the apartment we’d shared behind.

'Now I was jobless, homeless, and broke. Things couldn't get much worse.

'Logan

'I was having a very bad day. With less than an hour before I was due to address the board of investors about the next round of funding for my medical research, I couldn't find a damn thing. My PA had abandoned me for marriage, leaving me high and dry (well, not really, she did arrange for a replacement, but apparently I was impossible to work for) so now I was stuck with an office that looked like a tornado had torn through it and no report to give the investors and the very possibility of being refused the money I needed to make the medical breakthrough I knew was within my grasp.

'I was a genius—my mother had me tested—but I really sucked when it came to filing.

'One drunken online ad later and Noelle walked into my life, turning it upside down and leaving me wondering how I ever survived without her. But being a PA is just a temporary solution for Noelle, and she has no intention on staying permanently. No matter how good we are together.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'“Two broken people didn’t make a whole one. The friendship we had, it just worked. We were kindred spirits. We had shit in common. We were both running from the same demons. That didn’t mean we could make a romantic interlude work, in fact, it almost guaranteed that we would be a complete bloody disaster.”

'Darcy

'I liked Cole from the moment my best friend introduced us, and if I hadn’t been seeing someone at the time, we might very well have hooked up. But, instead, we became friends, good friends, and I came to value that friendship more than I’d ever imagined. Cole just got me. When I was around him, I could let all my defences down and just be me. Sure, he was hot, and I knew if we ever went beyond friends, we would rock each other’s world, but our friendship was too important to me to throw it away for one perfect night between the sheets. I didn’t do long term relationships, so one night was all we could ever have, and that just wouldn’t be enough. Cole and I would be spectacular, and then we would self destruct. Neither of us was emotionally available to deal with the fallout. Maybe if things were different, if I wasn’t so broken, but they’re not, and I’d rather have Cole as a friend for life than just a sweet memory.

'Cole

'Darcy knocked me on my arse the first time I met her. She was gorgeous; a tiny little thing that I’d like to pick up and carry around in my pocket. But she was also smart and funny and a great wingman. Except that I’d rather sit at the bar talking to her all night than go home with the women she picked out for me. And now my body had gotten on board, and it wanted more, much more. But Darcy was my friend, and the relationship I had with her was probably the healthiest male/female relationship I’d ever had, and I just didn’t want to screw it up. She was too important to me to be a one night stand—even though I knew it would be amazing—and I’m a one night stand kind of guy. That might be an awful thing to admit, but I’m not whole, and I didn’t think it was fair to lump my baggage onto someone else. So having Darcy as a friend was the only way to keep her in my life, and I definitely wanted to keep her.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Forced to retire due to injury, ballet star Quinn Markam returns to his hometown to choreograph an up and coming group of dancers. And he’s not happy about it. Bitter because of his untimely retirement and depressed because the only job he can get is with the B Company, Quinn is not in the least prepared to deal with an young upstart like Beth who is determined to become the next big thing.

'Bethany Reynholm has lived and breathed ballet and dance since she was old enough to walk. Nothing feels better to her than letting go and letting the music flow through her. And now she is on the brink of achieving her dream, she just has to impress the one dancer she has idolised for years, except that he is nothing like she expected. Quinn Markam, the dancer she has looked up to for so long, turns out to be a big disappointment. He is bitter, rude and impossible to please and despite all that, she’s attracted to him, much to her own disgust.

'Beth wants Quinn to see that he still has an amazing opportunity in the world of dance, if he can just get over himself. And if he can do that, then there might be a chance for the two of them as well.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.