by J. Kenner
Extraordinarily Yours Collection 1
J. Kenner
Contents
Title Page
About the Extraordinarily Yours Collection
So (Very!) Much More than the Girl Next Door
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
The Charmed Affair of an Invisible Bodyguard
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
The “Super” Secret Life of an Accidental Daddy
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Never Trust a Rogue on a Magical Mission
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Epilogue
The Seductive Charm of a Sexy Shifter (Excerpt)
Carpe Demon (Excerpt)
Down on Me (Excerpt)
J. Kenner Series In KU
Also by J. Kenner
About the Author
Extraordinarily Yours
Collection 1
by
J. Kenner
Writing as Julie Kenner
Learn more at:
www.jkenner.com
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About the Extraordinarily Yours Collection
Enter a world with hunky shapeshifters, sexy superheroes, sensual empaths, and lots of romance, humor and adventure!
Dive into this world filled with superheroes who secretly live among—and fall in love with!—mortals.
This collection from the Extraordinarily Yours series of paranormal romances contains:
So (Very!) Much More than the Girl Next Door
The Charmed Affair of an Invisible Bodyguard
The “Super” Secret Life of an Accidental Daddy
Never Trust a Rogue on a Magical Mission
The Extraordinarily Yours books were originally published as the “Aphrodite” series by Julie Kenner, beginning with the USA Today bestselling Aphrodite’s Kiss. They have been repackaged for this re-release.
Extraordinarily Yours
Sexy paranormal rom-coms!
So (Very!) Much More than the Girl Next Door
The Charmed Affair of an Invisible Bodyguard
The “Super” Secret Life of an Accidental Daddy
Never Trust a Rogue on a Magical Mission
Mayhem, Matchmakers, and a Bit of Bewitching (novella)
How a Sexy Hero and a Marvelous Makeover (Sorta!) Saved the World (novella)
The Seductive Charm of a Sexy Shifter (prequel)
So (Very!) Much More than the Girl Next Door Copyright © 2001, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018 by Julie Kenner
The Charmed Affair of an Invisible Bodyguard Copyright © 2002, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018 by Julie Kenner
The “Super” Secret Life of an Accidental Daddy Copyright © 2003, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018 by Julie Kenner
Never Trust a Rogue on a Magical Mission Copyright © 2004, 2013, 2016, 2018 by Julie Kenner
The Seductive Charm of a Sexy Shifter Excerpt Copyright © 2000, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018 by Julie Kenner
Originally published as Aphrodite’s Kiss, Aphrodite’s Passion, Aphrodite’s Secret, Aphrodite’s Flame, & The Cat’s Fancy
Down on Me Excerpt Copyright © 2018 by Julie Kenner
Carpe Demon Excerpt Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2012 Julie Kenner
Cover design by Michele Catalano, Catalano Creative
Cover image (Girl, Affair, Secret, Shifter) by: Tverdokhlib, Bigstockphoto.com; (Rogue) by: angel_nt/Bigstockphoto.com
Published by Martini & Olive
v. 2019-1-16-KU
Originally published as Aphrodite’s Kiss, Aphrodite’s Passion, Aphrodite’s Secret, Aphrodite’s Flame & The Cat’s Fancy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
So (Very!) Much More than the Girl Next Door
1
Venerate Council of Protectors
1-800-555-HERO
www.WeProtectMortals.com
Protecting Mortals Is Our Business!
Official Business
Ms. Zoe Smith Halfling
Los Angeles, California
Greetings and congratulations on your upcoming twenty-fifth birthday:
Enclosed please find your application for membership to the Venerate Council of Protectors (487 pages, excluding affidavits and attachments) and council publications numbers 1758-A(3) and 2987-Z(9), respectively titled “So You’re a Halfling!” and “The Venerate Council: A Brief History in 1,200 Pages.” Please complete the application and return it in triplicate to the council by no later than one month prior to the twenty-fifth anniversary of your birth.
As part of the application process, you may be evaluated through field testing during your birthday week. Such testing is random, and applicants are not informed in advance.
You will be advised of your application status the morning following your twenty-fifth birthday. A decision as to your denial or acceptance will be based on your overall skill level and performance during the tests.
If you are accepted to the council, you will be informed at that time of the date and location of your swearing-in ceremony.
If your application is declined, you will be escorted to the Bureau of Registration, where you will be required to either register as an Unlicensed Protector (Outcast) or forfeit your Protector heritage and undergo mortalization, at which time all memories of your Protector relatives will be removed. (For more detailed information on the mortalization process, including limitations of liability, warranties, and disclosures, please visit our Web site at www.WeProtectMortals.com.)
Failure to register as an Outcast or to select mortalization is a violation of Section IV, subpart 2(a)(ii) of the Mortal-Protector Treaty of 1970.
In addition to your formal application, you must submit—by no later than sunset on your twenty-fifth birthday—the enclosed Affidavit of Mortal Disclosure affirming that you have disclosed to your mortal parent your status as a halfling and your decision to apply for council membership.
As you are aware, your Protector parent filed a Notice of Halfling Nascence contemporaneously with your birth, and such information has been periodically updated. Your file currently states that, in addition to the speed, strength, and agility inherent in the Protector genetics, you have also demonstrated a propensity toward the following skill(s)/power(s)/ characteristic(s):
– heightened five senses (including X-ray vision)
As the anniversary of your birth draws closer, you will most likely experience significant oscillation in your ability to control/utilize such skill(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s). Such fluctuations are an unfortunate by-product of your halfling status and are considered normal.
Our records further indicate that you have not yet mastered the following necessary skill(s):
– matter manipulation (a.k.a. telekinesis)
Form 82-C(l)(a), on file with the Office of Halfling Registration, reflects the issuance of the following council-controlled articles:
– propulsion cloak, model C-14A (training model) and
– X-ray blocking glasses, tortoiseshell variety (regular and sunglasses)
Please be advised that at any time prior to the anniversary of your birth, you may formally announce your intent not to submit the affidavit and to select mortalization. Please use Form 93B, enclosed, Intent to Select Mortalization.
Upon submission of such form, you will be immediately escorted to the Bureau of Registration for processing. Please arrange return transportation in advance. Following the mortalization process, you will have no memory of the council or your Protector relatives. A stranded mortal is an unhappy mortal!
Thank you for your attention to this matter—and happy birthday!
Sincerely,
Phelonium Prigg
Assistant to Zephron, High Elder
jbk:PP
enclosure
Zoe Smith stared at the chocolate bar, wondering if it was going to attack. She’d confiscated it an hour ago from one of the students, who knew better than to bring food into the library, and she’d been contemplating the dastardly thing ever since. It looked innocent enough—sitting there on her desk surrounded by children’s book catalogs, order forms, and manila folders.
Zoe knew better.
That smooth, creamy milk chocolate mixed with chewy caramel had it in for her.
One bite, and Riverdance would begin tap-tapping away inside her mouth. Two bites, and her head would start spinning while smoke came out of her ears. Three bites, and those urban legends about spontaneous human combustion wouldn’t be legend anymore. Her whole life, Zoe’d had to watch what she ate. Too spicy, too tangy, too anything and she’d be jumping up and down, trying to put out a fire on her tongue or otherwise calm her taste buds.
And she’d thought that was inconvenient . . .
Ha!
That was nothing compared to what her ridiculous senses had been doing recently. These days her senses had been shoved into the touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound version of The Twilight Zone. Sometimes perfectly calm, perfectly stable. Other times more unstable than a psychopath on a bad day. In other words, totally whacked-out.
At least her X-ray vision could be blocked by simple glasses. So far at least, Zoe hadn’t discovered any easy way to wrest back some control of the rest of her senses.
Her brother Hale had said she just needed to get used to it—that after a while she’d become more acclimated.
Yeah, right.
Zoe was pretty sure that Hale’s ability to understand animal-speak and turn invisible didn’t hold a candle to what she went through if she tried to eat spicy Mexican food. Or the noise when a hundred or so conversations popped into her head unannounced. The unexpected drone of voices was bad enough; trying to sort them out and hear just one conversation was exhausting.
Besides, since Hale was a full-fledged Protector, he’d never had to deal with this sudden increase in powers. Instead of sporadically peaking like an adolescent boy’s voice, his powers had developed calmly and slowly as he’d grown up. So Zoe doubted he had any idea just how overwhelming her megawatt senses really were.
As far as Zoe was concerned, at that moment her life was in a state of total chaos. Her senses were whacked-out, she still couldn’t levitate worth a darn, she could barely steer her propulsion cloak, and in just a few days she had to tell her mother that she was a halfling and about to join the Venerate Council. You see, Mom, I just never got around to telling you that I’m a superhero.
Oh, yeah. That’s gonna go over big.
She tapped her fingers on the desk, considering the candy bar. Maybe Hale did have a point. She needed to start somewhere, and she’d certainly never get used to this new hyper-aware state if she lived on rice cakes and oatmeal. Maybe she should put a little effort into acclimation.
Squinting, she leaned forward until she was nose-to-wrapper with the devious confection. “Okay, Mr. Goodbar. It’s you or me.” Slowly, ceremoniously, she peeled the wrapper away, waiting for her nose to start twitching as the decadent smell of chocolate surrounded her.
Nothing.
A good sign, maybe?
Experimentally, she touched the tip of her tongue against the candy. It was chocolate, all right. Yummy, delicious, fattening chocolate. But—so far, anyway—not in the least bit spaz-inducing.
Well, in for a penny and all that.
Before she had time to think about it, she opened her mouth, shoved the candy bar in, and bit down.
Heaven. Pure heaven in a bite-size package.
She closed her eyes, letting the chocolate melt on her tongue, the crunchy sensation of peanuts mixing with the pure, rich decadence. Delicious and wonderful, but not overwhelming. Just your average, everyday choco—
Uh-oh. Big-time, major uh-oh.
The world tilted on its axis, spinning faster and faster as the superfragilistic taste of chocolate grabbed hold of her taste buds and refused to let go.
Colors. She was tasting colors. Pinks and purples an
d yellows exploded in her mouth, forming and re-forming into kaleidoscopes of sensory delight, seeping into her blood and making her entire body flush. She tried to look around, tried to tell whether anyone could see her, but the rainbow blocked her vision.