🌊 Counting Down to The Beach House Bet—April 7th!

We’re just days away from the release of The Beach House Bet, and I can’t wait for you to dive into Ava and Wes’s story. But while you wait for this steamy, heartfelt coastal romance, don’t forget about Runaway Bridesmaid.

If you’re a paid subscriber to The Romantic Reader, Runaway Bridesmaid is already yours as part of your monthly Love in a Heartbeat Mini Romance series. Enjoy!

Not a paid subscriber? No worries! Runaway Bridesmaid is available now in the CurtissLynn Publishing store for just $1.99. It’s the perfect way to get a taste of my storytelling before The Beach House Bet hits your inbox.

💖 What’s Waiting for You in The Beach House Bet:
Stubborn, independent Ava Langley has one goal—turn her inherited beach house into a fresh start. Wes Rogers, the rugged handyman with a knack for fixing things and an even greater talent for driving her crazy, has other ideas. When a bet pulls them together, sparks fly, tempers flare, and hearts are tested.

Ready to see what all the buzz is about? You can grab Runaway Bridesmaid now or hold tight for the release of The Beach House Bet. Either way, I’m so grateful to have you along for the ride.

📖 Read an excerpt from Runaway Bridesmaid

Chapter Three

Tate had spent months trying to ignore Lani Brooks.

And failing miserably.

Truth was, he’d been in misery since day one of this wedding ordeal.

So he really shouldn’t have been surprised when he found himself sprinting after her before she escaped this shit show without him.

It wasn’t about his bag she’d mistakenly picked up. There was nothing but a few toiletries—a comb, beard oil, and a bottle of his favorite cologne. There wasn’t anything in that bag he couldn’t replace, but Lani running toward a taxi like her dress was literally on fire? Now, that wasn’t something he could just let go.

What self-respecting cowboy would?

Calvin—his best friend and the groom who’d been left at the altar—had been blindly blinking at his phone in wide-eyed shock. There’d been no warning, no ominous text, no last-minute note from Beth. Everything had been set for a perfect wedding, until suddenly it wasn’t. And the resulting chaos looked like a tornado had touched down in the middle of a fancy floral arrangement.

Bridesmaids ran in every direction, dresses swishing, tears flowing. Mothers sobbed dramatically, fathers looked homicidal, and Tate? Well, he’d never been one to thrive in a meltdown of epic proportions.

The irony wasn’t lost on him. He was a man who knew what he wanted, always had. He ran a successful ranch, managed a string of businesses, and handled million-dollar deals like they were pocket change. But the second Beth’s best friend tripped into his life—literally tripped, because Lani was always in some state of near-catastrophe—his carefully controlled world felt like a goddamn test of patience.

It had been torture sitting next to her at rehearsal dinners, feeling the brush of her arm against his, catching the way she’d steal bashful little glances at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.

Except he’d always been paying attention.

Because Lani wasn’t like the women he usually entertained. The ones who never expected more than one night. The ones who never stole his thoughts long after they walked away.

Lani was kind and soft-hearted in a way that unsettled him. She was loyal and funny and just chaotic enough to be dangerous to a man like him. Because for all her sweet charm, she was also a little bit of a disaster.

And this time? She’d outdone herself.

Tate leaned back against the cab’s worn leather seat, arms crossed over his chest, watching her slowly unravel as they drove closer and closer to the cabin.

She turned slowly, her blue eyes wide and panicked, locked onto its quaint outline in the setting sun of the horizon, the one she’d fluffed up into a honeymoon paradise with her own two hands.

Her breath came shallow and quick. Her fingers gripped the folds of her dress like she was physically holding herself together. And then came the muttering. “This was such a bad idea.”

Tate exhaled through his nose, fighting the urge to grin. He had never seen her like this—fully off-kilter, completely unguarded, too frazzled to slap on that usual polite, practiced, and somewhat nerdy charm.

The cab driver cleared his throat. “That’ll be forty-eight even.”

Lani snapped back to reality, her head whipping toward Tate like he had the power to undo this disaster.

“Take us back,” she blurted. “We need to go back.”

Tate, deliberately slow, dragged his wallet from his pocket.

And then she gasped. “Oh, come on—are you serious right now?”

He thought he’d outdone himself until he realized she wasn’t talking to him.

He frowned. “What?”

But she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at the porch.

And when Tate followed her gaze, his smirk deepened. Because there it was. The perfect diversion.

A fat, overfed raccoon sat smack in the middle of the porch, elbow-deep in a basket of expensive honeymoon chocolates, chewing with zero shame. Wrappers lay scattered like confetti, the delicate satin ribbon Lani had so painstakingly tied dangling off the edge like an afterthought.

The open cabin door behind him told Tate everything he needed to know.

Lani had left it open. She had single-handedly invited a sugar-crazed woodland bandit to crash the honeymoon suite.

She let out an outraged noise, throwing open the cab door so hard it nearly ricocheted back at her and launched into full-on bridal concierge emergency mode.

He watched her go, amusement flickering in his eyes.

She stormed up the steps, flailing her arms, muttering under her breath about imported truffles, hand-selected hazelnuts, and why chocolate was wasted on creatures with no appreciation for a proper ganache.

The raccoon—clearly unfazed by human-level concerns or the possibility of eviction—grabbed another truffle, stuffed it in his chubby cheeks, and locked eyes with her in blatant defiance.

Tate shook his head, biting back a grin. This was hands down the best evening he’d had in a long time.

 

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March’s Love in a Heartbeat Mini Romance Is Here!

Runaway Bridesmaid

When Lani Brooks’s best friend calls off her wedding, she does what any self-respecting, panic-stricken bridesmaid would do—she runs. The only problem? She ends up stranded in a secluded cabin with Tate Winchester, the most frustratingly handsome, broody cowboy in New Mexico. He’s the last man she wants to be stuck with… but one stormy night changes everything.

What You’ll Find Inside:

• Enemies to Lovers
• Forced Proximity in a Cozy Cabin
• A Rugged Cowboy Who’s Terrible at Feelings
• A Runaway Bridesmaid Who’s Done Waiting
• Emotional Angst & a Big, Swoony HEA

Want unlimited access to these monthly bite-sized romances? Subscribe for $5/month or $35/year to receive new stories every month.

If you're not a paid subscriber, you can purchase these short stories and my other novels from  CurtissLynn Publishing