by Charish Reid
His face broke into a wide smile. “I promise, Dr. Reese,” he said, throwing his arm over her middle and dragging her close. As he moved over her, pushing a thigh between her legs, he kissed her deeply. His promise to remain chaste in her parents’ house quickly unraveling as he placed light kisses around her mouth. “I promise to be here at your convenience. All you have to do is ask and I will give you anything, baby.”
Victoria was left breathless.
“Goddammit, Johnny Donovan, I love you,” she said, planting a kiss on his lips.
* * *
Reviews are an invaluable tool when it comes to spreading the word about great reads. Please consider leaving an honest review for this or any of Carina Press’s other titles that you’ve read on your favorite retailer or review site.
To purchase and read more books by Charish Reid please visit Charish’s website at:
charishreid.com.
Acknowledgements
To my husband, Noah, whose patience is boundless: thank you for being the perfect hero and the inspiration for my books.
To “The real Write Bitches,” Katherine and Courtney and my Writing Buddy, Sandra: thank you for solving puzzles with me, exchanging manuscripts, and communicating through gifs. All of it helped create this book.
The Lady PhDs who show up to school every day, with the sole purpose of changing the world: thank you for hustling through that 4/4 load. Dr. Pompili, Dr. Chansky, Dr. Green, Dr. George: you are heroes.
I want to thank my sister, U.S. Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, for pulling up her own seat at the table so she could sit tall and speak clear. You’ve shown me I can do the same.
Special thanks must go to my editor, Kate, and my agent, Saritza: your support and guidance makes this road less bumpy.
Lastly, thank you, Normal Public Library, for giving me my first librarian job. I got to smooch my now husband in Dewey decimal class 800.
About the Author
Charish Reid currently lives in Sweden with her professor husband, who enjoys walking and biking way more than she does. While he walks and bikes, she writes contemporary romance featuring sexy academics, who are trying to find love and adventure from under stacks of student papers. While she was born in Little Rock, AR, she has lived all over the United States observing people and taking notes for poetry, essays, and novels.
After earning her Masters in Literature, she went on to teach English and Rhetoric at several universities before penning her first book. Cashiering at a major discount retailer, being a menswear salesperson, and bartending were fairly easy compared to class prep, performing for students, and grading. When she’s not writing or teaching, Charish enjoys watching movies and talking to folks in other countries. Travels to Thailand, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, and Sweden will probably find their way into future books.
You can catch up with Charish here:
Website: Charishreid.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/AuthorCharish
Facebook: Facebook.com/CharishReidAuthor
Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!
The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:
This book contains a romance central to the plot and ends in an HEA or HFN.
Simple, right? But so important, we know!
Look for the Carina Press Romance Promise and one-click with confidence that we understand what’s at the heart of the romance genre!
Look for this line in Carina Press book descriptions:
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise.
Find out more at CarinaPress.com.
We think you have a good book in you!
Are you writing in the below genres? The Carina Press editors want to see your manuscript.
We Are Currently Acquiring
Most subgenres and all heat levels of romance:
• Contemporary
• Erotic
• Paranormal & Urban Fantasy
• Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Romantic Suspense
• Historical
• Your subgenre here. See our submissions guidelines!
We want to reaffirm our commitment to inclusion and representation in our publishing program and extend a specific invitation to Black authors, authors of color, disabled authors, LGBTQ+ authors, and other traditionally marginalized and underrepresented voices. We strive to make our list one of inclusion, and are working hard to build a catalog that is more representative of the romance reading public.
To learn more about our submissions guidelines, please visit: bit.ly/write4cp
All submitted manuscripts receive a thorough editorial review and a response in approximately 12 weeks.
Get the latest on Carina Press by joining our eNewsletter!
Don’t miss out, sign up today!
CarinaPress.com/newsletter
Sign up and get Carina Press offers and coupons delivered straight to your inbox!
Plus, as an eNewsletter subscriber, you’ll get the inside scoop on everything
Carina Press and be the first to know about our newest releases!
Visit CarinaPress.com
Other ways to keep in touch:
Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Twitter.com/CarinaPress
ISBN-13: 9781488055157
Hearts on Hold
Copyright © 2020 by Charish Reid
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at [email protected].
Carina Press
22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada
www.CarinaPress.com