Showing results by author "A.R. Casella" in All Categories

Blogging about bad dates used to be fun, but a girl can only take so much foolishness. So I broke up with my job. Okay, full disclosure, I was fired. It’s a long, sordid tale, involving my sourdough starter - RIP, Fred! - and my ex-boss’ serious lack of humor. Newly funemployed and in need of a break, I go to Asheville to dogsit for my sister…and stumble onto a scoop big enough to put my fake-dating days behind me forever.

After learning his best friend and boss is selling the brewery they built together to a soulless corporation, River quits on the spot, only for Georgie Buchanan to offer him a job the very same night. Helping her turn Buchanan Brewery around is his dream job, the perfect homage to the man who taught him everything and helped give him roots. There’s one problem: His new boss is his dream woman, and she’s not the type to mix business and pleasure.

I’m cursed. Yes, really. I broke a boy’s heart, because he wasn’t romance hero material, and his nonna cursed me to live out my favorite plotlines...without the happy ending. Consider my track record: Second-chance romance? Turns out my old flame returned home to cook meth, not take care of his parents.

Adalia Buchanan has always poured her soul into her art, but after a horrible betrayal by her mentor, she can no longer bring herself to do it. Instead, she’s designing merch and marketing materials for her family brewery in Asheville, hoping it’ll satisfy her urge to create. It doesn’t, of course, and her worst nightmare comes to pass when an arrogant yet attractive acquaintance witnesses her tearing up one of her own paintings.

Lee Buchanan is a hot mess. Turning one’s father in to the feds can do that to a man. He had nothing to do with his father’s Ponzi scheme, but he’s blacklisted from commercial real estate all the same. Which is how he ends up in Asheville, working at the brewery he inherited with his siblings. He’s salty as hell, and he doesn’t care who knows it.

One night. Just one night. Or at least that’s what Maisie tells herself when she brings Jack Durand home. Because even though his arms are a thing of beauty and he can charm wild animals, she’s in no position to start anything with anyone. So she pretends she’s just scratching an itch. Jack is pretending, too. His little sister is moving to Asheville as his ward, and between getting her through her senior year of high school and working at the family brewery, he doesn’t have time for a girlfriend. Even a sexy, no-nonsense powerhouse like Maisie.

She’s a hopeless romantic...for everyone but herself. Can the least romantic man alive convince her love isn’t just for other people? Willow: There are certain expectations when you’re born into a multigenerational family of matchmakers, which is why I fled my hometown and tried to build a life of my own. But it turns out matchmaking is hard to quit, and I can’t stop trying to match the customers at the bakery I manage - including my boss and the tea shop owner next door - even though I’m hopeless at love.

I’m usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug. My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now he’s dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.

Crashing weddings is so not my thing. I’d much rather stay home and watch HGTV...and ignore the fact that my life is messier than those fixer-upper houses. Because my jerk ex left, and the only thing keeping a roof over my sons’ heads is my crappy telemarketing job. But then, I get a challenge from the Bad Luck Club, the group I joined to turn my luck around: Do something that breaks the rules.