Resisting the Bad Boy (NICE GIRL TO LOVE) Read online

  No, she wouldn’t need a magic decoder ring to figure out the note or the gift—what he thought he was giving her by this ridiculously romantic, misguidedly selfless act.

  She blew out an exasperated breath, unsure whether to swoon, or cry, or drive right over to his house and kick him in the shins.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Startled, she looked up, forgetting Brian was there for a second. “Your brother. He’s what’s wrong. Or rather, he is wrong.”

  “About what?”

  Holding the note in one hand and the photo in the other, she gestured in frustration. “About this. All of it. He’s doing all this to try to be ‘the good man’ over something that isn’t even what he’s made it out to be. This right here.” She stared at the photo. “He obviously thinks you and I are something that we’re not, something he insists on believing is better for me than what he and I have.” No wonder he’d been asking her so many questions about Brian lately. Gazing at the note again, she sighed, “He’s clearly built up this whole idea about you and me in his head, and he’s not going to come back until I convince him he’s wrong.”

  Brian reached out and slid a warm hand over her cheek. “What if he’s not wrong, Abby? What if it isn’t all in his head?”

  END OF BOOK ONE

  BOOK TWO: FALLING FOR THE GOOD GUY

  (Abby & Brian’s story)

  NOW AVAILABLE!

  Abby Bartlett is well aware that everyone thinks she’s in love with her best friend Brian. He is, after all, the type of man a nice girl should be with—the polar opposite of the bad boy—the kind of guy who didn’t let his wife’s decade-long illness stop him from showering her with a lifetime of love every second until her dying day. Yes, Brian has been the yardstick against which Abby has measured all other men. But everyone’s wrong; she couldn’t possibly be in love with him.

  Because she’s never once allowed herself that option.

  It’s taken a while but Brian Sullivan has finally come to terms with being a widower at the age of thirty, surviving the woman he spent half his life loving, a third of it losing. Truth is though, he wouldn’t have ‘survived’ any of it really had it not been for Abby—sweet, incredible Abby—the woman he’s never once had to picture his life without, never realized he couldn’t truly live without. Until now. Now that he’s finally able to love her the way she deserves, the way he knows she wants to be loved…by his brother.

  Who’s giving him exactly one chance to speak now or forever hold his peace.

  NICE GIRL TO LOVE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

  COMING JULY 31ST

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Violet Duke is the pen name of Nina Nakayama, lovingly chosen in honor of her two wacky children. A former professor of English Education at the University of Hawai‘i, Nina is ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance novels. Besides writing and feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, she can often be found tackling reno projects with her power tools and trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, or cooking ‘special edition’ dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. Nina lives in Hawai‘i with her two cute kids and similarly adorable husband.

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  http://www.violetduke.com

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