Decidedly With Love

Stina Lindenblatt

By the Bay Book 3 · Stina Lindenblatt

About this ebook

From the author of sexy romantic comedies comes the story of a meddling grandmother searching for lifelong love. For her hockey player grandson…

 

Fake girlfriend Rule #1: never fall for your fake boyfriend.

Oops.

 

I run Aphrodite’s Boutique, a store that specializes in all things love-related. A store that I adore with all my heart, and which is at risk of being shut down and replaced with a condo development.

 

To save it, all I have to do is pretend to be Travis Hamilton’s girlfriend.

 

Sounds simple enough. Right?

 

Except he and I have a history together...but he doesn’t seem to remember me.

 

****

 

My feisty, well-meaning grandmother raised me after my parents died, but now she’s determined to help me find The One. But when most women I meet tend to be puck bunnies or women only interested in my hockey-player salary—and let’s not forget the nutcase of an ex-girlfriend—why bother?

 

Only a fake girlfriend will deter my grandmother’s matchmaking scheme.

 

Too bad the one woman who can help me is the sexy redhead who wants to assist me as much as she wants her eyeballs dunked in hot sauce and barbecued.

 

To convince her, I promise to help her with her own dilemma. But sometimes fire and ice really do mix. Now I have to decide if love is in the air—and if together Emma and I make something hotter. Something stronger. Something real.

Decidedly with Love is a standalone romance. All the books in the series can be read in any order.

Ratings and reviews

I really loved this sweet and sexy romance. Travis will do anything to make his grandmother happy. Even break the heart of sweet, caring, romance shop owner, Emma Lovejoy. Emma doesn't want to play along with Travis' scheme for her own reasons. When she thinks that she might lose her beloved store, she agrees to be his fake girlfriend for a few weeks. But when Travis finally realizes that Emma is the best thing to ever happened to him it might just be too late. This had everything I crave in my romance reads. It had a sexy alpha, a strong heroine, quirky secondary characters, a heartwarming & fun storyline, and lots of steam! The twists and turns this story took had me totally engaged from start to finish. I loved the Dr Lovejoy column, it added an entertaining element to the story. I also enjoyed catching up with the couples from the past books in this series. I definitely recommend this charming, heartwarming, and sexy story.

A hot hockey player.  A woman that owns a sex shop that focuses on women.  A matchmaking grandmother and her 2 best friends.  Throw in a little strip dance for charity, and you have all the makings for a crazy good time, right? This story started with a guy that just wants his grandmother to stop trying to set him up.  He cooks up a crazy scheme with a couple of his friends and it goes from there.  Of course, nothing good can come from a scheme this off the wall. Emma and Travis are both playful, fun characters.  I enjoyed reading all about their crazy path to love.  Travis thinks he is happy with his life just the way it is.  Emma knows that she wants more, but doesn't know how to get it.  But they both have issues stemming from their childhoods that keep them from being in a relationship. Let's not forget Travis's grandmother and her friends.  They are hilarious!  I could not get enough of them.  I think I laughed throughout most of the story, from their antics. This was a fun read, with just enough serious thrown in to keep it interesting.  Definitely worth the read.  Although there are visits from characters from previous books in the series and mentions of previous events, this story can be read as a standalone.

This is the third book in the By the Bay series and can be read as a standalone. The characters from the first two books make appearances as they are friends with Travis. You don’t have to read the first two books for this story, it just is fun to know the other couple’s histories. Emma Lovejoy is a fun heroine with a tragic past. She was abandoned as a child and grew up in the foster care system. She owns her own love store, Aphrodite’s Boutique, and peddles everything from erotic scented candles and massage oils to adult sex toys and movies. She is beautiful, sweet, sexy and funny and she believes in love and wants to have someone love her. Her clients love her and that includes three grandmothers who frequent her store. Emma has a fountain that is similar to the Trevi Fountain in Rome to include Aphrodite. She also has a side job writing a love column for a local paper. Dear Dr. Lovejoy. Very few people know that Emma is the author and no she isn’t a doctor. The antics in the store are hilarious and the grandmothers are characters. One of them belongs to Travis, the hero. Travis is a professional hockey player for the San Francisco Rock and he loves his life, to include his single status. He lost his parents when he was still in high school and his grandmother was there to help pick up the pieces. They are very close, and she is after him to settle down and have a child. She wants a great grandchild before she dies, she is 80 but doesn’t act like it. Travis wants his grandmother to quit trying to fix him up with women, so he comes up with a plan to find a fake girlfriend. He chooses Emma for reasons I won’t go into because you need to read the book to find out the rest of the story. This is a sweet, funny, and sexy feel good love story. The characters had amazing chemistry and I loved their journey to get to their HEA. There were parts that I felt bad for the characters. The story flowed well and there were a few stomach plummets. I was totally engaged and involved with the story and characters. I really loved the characters and the secondary characters added a lot of comic relief! I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I highly recommend it. It’s definitely worth the read!

About the author

Born in Brighton England, Stina Lindenblatt has lived in a number of countries, including England, the US, Finland, and Canada. This would explain her mixed up accent. She has a kinesiology degree and a MSc in sports biological sciences. In addition to writing fiction, she loves photography, especially the close-up variety, and currently lives in Calgary, Canada, with her husband and three kids.