After reading a scandalous pamphlet entitled SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT, Miss Amelia Templeton cried off from her engagement. But her mother is set on seeing her daughter land a peer before the end of the Season. Amelia will do her duty. This time she has a list of the oldest, and most titled men in the ton who are looking for a wife. She'll marry one of them. But first she needs to get over her fear of a wedding night. She enlists the help of Mr. Thaddeus Hammond, a mere mister who is riddled with scandal, but worse, he's her dead brother's closest friend. Thad has never told the story of what happened the night Amelia's brother died, but he did make her a promise. She issues him a scandalous proposal: spend the night with her to show her the real secrets of a wedding night.
A wickedly funny fairytale for modern women from the 'laugh-out-loud funny' (Washington Post Book World) author of The Cinderella Pact. Genie's commitment-phobic boyfriend is finally proposing-on national television. To the woman he's been seeing on the side. It's a major wake-up call for a girl who's hit the snooze button on her life a few too many times. With no names mentioned on the broadcast, Genie finds herself flooded with presents and congratulations. It's up to her to explain the mistake, but sometimes waking up is hard to do. When her parents start planning the reception, she can't help enjoying herself. Why call off the so-called engagement just yet? It's fun to play princess. But unless a prince shows up-and soon-this dream could start getting weird.
Twenty-one year old Larissa Chakroborty (better known as Jasmine) has been forced into the company of her parents' friends' son, twenty-five year old Tanveer Bhattacharya (aka Veer) ever since she was thirteen and he was seventeen. Jasmine found herself slowly getting drawn towards this teenage boy and harbours an unrequited crush on him, long after he disappears from her life in order to pursue a college degree. Eight years later Veer returns. Jasmine finds herself going to his welcome home party, and neither of them recognises each other on the first meeting. Upon discovering that Jasmine is now a Master's student in a reputed college, Veer makes her a rather strange proposal. He wants her to pretend that they're in love and would eventually settle down in life, for he wishes to avoid tying the knot with a girl of his parents' choice. The constant ego battle between the two, the love-hate relationship, break ups and realisations is what The Secret Proposal is all about, wherein love would eventually find a way. Coupled with birthday parties, engagement announcements, Durga Pujos, weddings, the harrowing rituals, Christmas time fun, the crazy duo have a long way to go before they realise what their act would eventually cost them. Is it enough to get your long time love to be in a 'pretense relationship' with you? Does one grand gesture convince you that you've found your knight in shining armour? And why is it that when you have someone, you don't want them... and when you lose them, you want them back? Is Veer merely pretending to be in love with Jasmine? And will Jasmine ever get over her undying love for Veer? About the Athor: Aniesha Brahma, currently a Masters student in Jadavpur University, is pursuing a degree in Comparative Literature. She was born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal. She is an ex-student of Dolna Day School, where she first discovered her passion for writing. She firmly believes that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, and 'you should never give up on the one thing that you cannot go a day without thinking about'. She likes making movies on Windows Movie Maker, dabbling in arguments on the online writing communities and in between is learning to play the guitar. Also, she is incredibly fond of the rain, hanging out with her group of friends and is always looking for different kinds of stories to tell the world. The Secret Proposal is her debut novel. She currently lives in Kolkata.
The first book in Valerie Bowman's sexy Secret Brides trilogy, Secrets of a Wedding Night HOW TO STOP A WEDDING Young, widowed, and penniless, Lily Andrews, the Countess of Merrill, has strong opinions on marriage. When she spots a certain engagement announcement in The Times, she decides to take action. She will not allow another hapless girl to fall prey to a man—particularly the scoundrel who broke her heart five years ago. Anonymously she writes and distributes a pamphlet entitled "Secrets of a Wedding Night," knowing it will find its way into his intended's innocent hands... HOW TO SEDUCE A WIDOW Devon Morgan, the Marquis of Colton, desires a good wife and mother to his son—someone completely unlike Lily Andrews, the heartless beauty who led him on a merry chase five years ago only to reject him. When Devon's new fiancée cries off after reading a certain scandalous pamphlet, he vows to track down the author and make her pay. But when he learns it's his former fiancée Lily, he issues a challenge: write a retraction or prepare to be seduced—to find out how wonderful a wedding night can be...
“A sharp, wise, and hilarious novel. . . . We loved it!” — Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza, authors of The Knockoff An addictively readable romantic comedy, drama, and mystery rolled into one, about two very different strangers whose lives become intertwined when they receive an unusual proposition. The Decent Proposal is a funny, tender, and enchanting story about love, attraction, and friendship: Jane Austen in Los Angeles. A struggling Hollywood producer, Richard Baumbach is twenty-nine, hung-over, and broke. Ridiculously handsome with an innate charm and an air of invincibility, he still believes good things will come his way. For now he contents himself with days at the Coffee Bean and nights with his best friend Mike (that’s a woman, by the way). At thirty-three, Elizabeth Santiago is on track to make partner at her law firm. Known as “La Máquina” The Machine—to her colleagues, she’s grown used to avoiding anything that might derail her quiet, orderly life. And yet recently she befriended a homeless man in her Venice neighborhood, surprised to find how much she enjoys their early-morning chats. Richard and Elizabeth’s paths collide when they receive a proposal from a mysterious, anonymous benefactor. They’ll split a million dollars if they agree to spend at least two hours together—just talking—every week for a year. Astonished and more than a little suspicious, they each nevertheless say yes. Richard needs the money and likes the adventure of it. Elizabeth embraces the challenge of shaking up her life a little more. Both agree the idea is ridiculous, but why not? What ensues is a delightful journey full of twists, revelations, hamburgers, classic literature, poppy music, and above all love, in its multitude of forms. The Decent Proposal is a heartfelt and often hilarious look at the ties that bind not just a guy and a girl but an entire, diverse cast of characters situated within a modern-day Los Angeles brought to full and irrepressible life.
Ed Middleton is ecstatic: he's just got engaged to his girlfriend, Sam, and he couldn't be happier. At least, hethinkshe's engaged. The thing is, it was Sam who did the proposing, and the more he thinks about it, the less he's sure that she was actually asking him to marry her. She could have just been asking the question, you know...hypothetically. As the wedding day draws nearer, Ed becomes more and more uneasy. Sam keeps disappearing off for furtive meetings and private phone calls, and when he spies her going into a pub with a man he's never seen before, all his old jealousies and insecurities threaten to re-surface. It's the perfect time for Ed's unhinged ex-girlfriend, Jane, to show up on his doorstep. Meanwhile, Dan - Ed's best-friend and soon-to-be-best-man - is determined to throw him a stag night to remember. And when a severely hung-over Ed wakes up the morning after the night before to see a second dent in the pillow, it seems as if Dan has got his wish. Will Ed manage to find out the truth about his stag night as well as the identity of Sam's secret man? Or will an accidental proposal lead them both down the aisle to a wedding neither of them ever imagined?
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick “There is so much to relate to and throughout the novel, there is a sharp feminist edge. Loved this one, and you will too.”—New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay The New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn't turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own... When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn't come as a surprise—or happen in front of 45,000 people. When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part—they've only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans... At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up—in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes...
With no ties to hold her, Elle heads off to life in sunny Malta, only to cross paths with her ex, Lucas, once more. The attraction is still there but can they get over their past?
Newlywed women are disappearing in West Haven and the cops insist there is no serial killer stalking brides. But when proposal planner Claire Hartley's former college roommate disappears without a trace, she decides to get to the bottom of the disappearances. Claire's no detective. She's made a name for herself making other girls' dreams come true. And right now, she has it all: an in-demand business that turns custom marriage proposals into guaranteed yeses, a tight circle of margarita-swilling girlfriends, and a rescued Corgi that will hopefully stop pooping in her closet any day now. But when the killer sends her a creepy present from the past she realizes just how close she is to becoming his next victim. Claire has to put her client research (ahem, stalking) skills to work to find the killer before he finds her. In the meantime, she's got her hands full with an egotistical filmmaker with biceps for days who thinks proposals are a joke and a psychotic competitor out to ruin her business and her life. Not to mention pulling off the top-secret proposal of the century. Can she make it through proposal season with her perfect track record intact...and her life?
